There is no arm twisting required to make us believe God is real and He exists. Why? There is ample evidence that proves the existence of God.

The DNA codes point to the creator God.

Discoveries of DNA points to the conclusion that there is a higher intelligence behind it. An intricate computer program made by intelligent people resembles the DNA in our cells. They both look similar. A computer program consists of a series of zeroes and ones called binary codes likes these 110010101011000. They write like an instruction manual with a purpose about what to do. The way these binary codes are sequenced instructs the computer what to do, and it works correctly according to its sequence and order. The DNA codes in our cells work the same way. The DNA code consists of four chemicals. The scientists abbreviated CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT.
It’s made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in each human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. Every human cell has three billion of these letters. In short, the DNA code is a three billion letter program instructing each cell to act in certain ways. It is an instruction manual like computer binary codes instructs the computer. Without a highly intelligent being called God arranging, sequencing and ordering the DNA codes, it would never happen and function inside of our cells. A computer program never automatically happens. An intelligent fellow must create it. God created the DNA codes inside us being the supreme intelligent creator.

For additional reading, refer:
https://www.everystudent.com/wires/Godreal.html
Only the Bible says how this happened. No other book would describe what happened inside the womb of our mother. It says, “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place..” (Psalm 139).

The creation around us and the universe has a sudden beginning. If so, is it a big bang or God’s voice that set things in motion?

Scientists agree there was a definite and singular start to all that exists. The beginning of the universe, space and even time had a definite beginning. In other words, the universe had not always existed. It had a starting point. What caused it? They say the universe began because of an enormous and explosion of light and energy. They call it the big bang. If it started with a big ban instantly, how do we explain the organized and harmonized behavior seen in our world? An intelligent being has to be behind it all to function the universe in such an organized and orderly fashion.  The distance of the earth from the sun and moon are correctly positioned to avoid problems like freeze and burnups. Even while it rotates around the sun at a speed of sixty-seven thousand miles per hour, it remains in its perfect distance. Earth remains in its perfect distance from the sun even when it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. A perfect gravitational pull comes from the correct distance and the size of the moon. This creates perfect ocean tides and movements avoiding the stagnation of ocean water. “The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the surface of our planet. It’s hard to imagine, but about 97 percent of the Earth’s water can be found in the oceans.”

https://www.oceanicinstitute.org/aboutoceans/aquafacts.html

Such gigantic sized ocean is restrained and contained by the perfect distance and size of the moon so that it would not spill over to the earth. These are intelligently designed and purposely implemented. A designer God is behind all such wonderful things.

It is not a big ban that caused the universe to come into existence, but it was the voice of God that said: “let there be” that caused it to come into existence (refer Genesis 1). Don’t you think, it makes more sense to believe that God created all these than accepting in a random explosion that caused such an organized, designed and well-planned universe to come into existence?

The universe is in operation by consistent and natural laws, and this gigantic machine called the universe obeys the law.

The universe is law-abiding is a severe puzzle to many people. The Nobel Prize winner, Richard Feynman, said, “Why nature is mathematical is a mystery…The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle.” (Richard Feynman, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist (New York: BasicBooks, 1998), 43). The scientists are consistently thinking the question of why the universe is so orderly and sufficiently reliable. It did not have to if it was the result of a random explosion called big bang. The whole universe obeys rules and it is very systematic and routine in its functions. Listen to what to Bible says in Colossians about who hold all things in the universe in this fashion. It says, ” For in him (Jesus Christ, the Son of God) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. NLT says, “He (the Son of God, Jesus) existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” It is His mighty hand that holds together all in its place in an orderly fashion. Hebrews 1:3 says, “He (Jesus) upholds the universe by the word of His power.”

Finally, I want to bring to your attention; our conscience and all around us has a stamp of God in it. No excuse possible.

Bible says in Romans 1:19, “They (people) know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.” Did you ever think why the atheists are so relentlessly attacking the reality and existence of God? If they knew there is no God, why they are so busy talking and criticizing the reality of God? If no God, why bother? The truth is – God is chasing them to know Him personally. Evidence of the existence of God is so many in front of people’s eyes every day. Romans 1:20 says, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Man cannot escape the thought of God because all around and inside them are pressing them to think about God.

God was pursuing Malcolm Muggeridge, CS Lewis, Marilyn Adamson, and many others, and finally, they accepted the reality of the existence of God. They became the preachers and teachers of the Bible.

God will never force us to accept Him. However, when you respond to the ample evidence, you will be liberated to the true freedom. Jesus said to those who believed in Him this, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth that set you free is the acceptance of the reality of God and the way you can have a loving fellowship with Him. You will come out of the bondage and will be filled with divine joy.

Let me stop after saying one more thing. I challenge you to take a long look at Jesus Christ if you want to know the reality of God. Throughout the world there are many religious leaders. Muhammad, Moses, Buddha, Hindu teachers are few examples. Some of them are called prophets. However, no one listed above claimed to be equal to God. Do you know the only one in the whole history who said He is equal to God is Jesus Christ, the Son of God? He said look at me if you want to see God. Jesus said anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9. Jesus also said, “The Father and I are one.” John 10:30. The Bible says this about Jesus, “He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His substance.” Hebrews 1:3. This is what differentiates Jesus from all other so-called prophets or religious leaders. There is no reasonable comparison to Christ out in this world. You will find none. Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to rescue us from our sins and reconcile us with God the Father. He said, ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is no way other out there to come to God and have a loving fellowship and relationship with God. None. Only Jesus Christ. No need to blame me for my narrowness. I did not say this. Jesus Christ said this. I am just conveying the truth to you. No other person ever made such claims in human history. 

Beloved, you can accept the fact and come into the light of God by looking at and accepting Christ as your savior, or you can ignore it and continue living in darkness. However, the truth remains the same regardless of your response.

God pursues you by inviting you to come to Him. He said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” It is His everlasting love and loving kindness that draws you to Him. He spared His eternal one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue you from your darkness and bondages and draw you to Himself. Jesus the savior who died in your place and rose again for your justification is now knocking at the door of your heart. Will you accept Him as your savior and Lord and enter into His heavenly joy, peace, blessings, and eternal life?

I can help you to get connected to God by a small prayer.

“Father in heaven, I accept the fact that you exist and you are real. Sorry I have ignored and even said things against you in the past. Forgive my sins. I know you draw me with your everlasting love and kindness. I accept Your Son, Jesus Christ, as my savior and Lord. Please save me now. I thank you for coming into my life. In the name of Christ, I pray. Amen.”

The post Is God Real? Does He exist? appeared first on TeachBible.org.

This is a unique pattern that we see in the Lord God. He had a much bigger plan in His people’s trials and sufferings and they did not know about it. Yet, God knew exactly what He was doing.
God was making a nation out of Jacob and fulfilling His covenant with Abraham in and through all Jacob’s trials and troubles.

Genesis 47:8-9, “Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,” The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

Yes, Jacob’s life was tremendously difficult for sure and a lot of evil things happened in his life. But who got the glory through his difficult years of life? God did because God eventually accomplished His perfect purpose in and through Jacob’s life.

In Laban’s house.

Jacob had to serve his uncle Laban for 20 years in total. The first seven years he sweated and worked hard to get Rachel as his wife because Laban agreed to give Rachel to Jacob. He loved Rachel so much that though he worked seven years to get her, they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. However, on the day of marriage he was deceived by Laban and Leah was given to him as the wife instead of Rachel. All his dreams and hopes for future were dashed on that wedding occasion. Laban asked him to work another 7 years to receive Rachel as his wife. He worked again another 7 more years.
In the midst of Laban’s deception and the dashing of all his beautiful dreams, God knew exactly what He was doing in Jacob’s life. Jacob had to have 12 children as God was forming a nation out of his children- his twelve children became the twelve tribes of the nation Israel. You see, God never makes a mistake.
God’s hand was even on Jacob’s fearful flight to Laban’s house. Bible says in Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” God assurance and direction was given to him on his fearful journey on that night in a place called ‘luz’ which would later become ‘Bethel’. All these fearful struggles including the running away from home after deceiving his brother and the later struggles and deception he went through were included in the plans of God for his life. He never understood the big plan of God when he faced with all his trials.
God was making a nation out of him – the nation Israel. God was going to fulfill the covenant He made with Abraham in Genesis 12:2 in and through his twelve children who would become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel by God himself on his way back to his father’s house after 20 years. At this time, on his way back to home, he was so scared to face his brother Esau whom he deceived by listening and obeying the advice of his mother, Rebecca. On that night, on the way back home, he was in great fear and distress to face his brother. His heart was melted in fear of Esau and we can read all the fearful preparations he made to meet Esau in Genesis chapter 32. He cried out to the Lord God in prayer because he was afraid Esau and his people would come and attack him, his wives and children. In that scary night, He wrestled with God who appeared to him and he said he won’t let Him go unless He blesses him. He needed the blessing of the Lord in this critical and dangerous time of his life. The Lord changed his name from Jacob to Israel. You see God stepped in with his powerful and all-sufficient grace to support him in his tragic moments and revealed His wonderful plan for future by changing his name to Israel. Of course, I do not think Jacob understood all the details of God’s plan even in his lifetime. What an amazing historical record we can all remember! Now we can look back and see what God was doing with his life. God was preparing ways to fulfill his covenant with Abraham- the promise of a land and a nation.
My friend, you may be wondering about the terrible situation where you are in now. You think there is no escape in your sight. You are scared and think there is no way out of your troubles and distress. I am sure Jacob thought the same way many times in his painful life experiences.
But do you know what? God has a perfect plan and future for you right in the midst of your heartbreaking circumstances. You may not understand it fully now. But later you will understand it or your future generation will recognize what God was doing in your life. God can and will bring glory to His name by using your trials and difficulties.
Jacob in his later years lost his only beloved and the most loved son – Joseph- for almost 14-15 years. He believed his beloved son had been killed by wild animals because this was a lie his jealous brothers told him after they sold him to Egypt as a slave due to their severe jealousy toward him. That loving father’s heart had broken into pieces when he heard Joseph was killed by wild animals. Another severe trial and tragedy he encountered after losing his favorite wife, Rachel because she died at the time of his youngest son, Benjamin. Jacob loved her dearly and now she is no more present in his life. One after another Jacob was faced with severe trials and sorrowful times.
It is a true statement that says “God causes all things to work together for good.”
But God helped Him in the midst of all his severe trials and troubles. God’s powerful grace was sufficient for him though he may have thought many times in his life that he could not make it through. I am sure he did and say ‘Lord I can not handle it any more’. But God had a much bigger and wonderful plan in the midst of Jacob’s trails and pains. Jacob was God’s work in progress and God was making a huge population and a nation out of him to literally fulfill his covenant with Abraham. How true the statement of Paul in Romans 8:28 that says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” God causes all things, means, God causes all evil and bad things to work together for ultimate good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose. Jacob was called and chosen by God even before his birth. God can work all things happened in his life – good and bad- to work together for good ultimately. If you are a child of God, if you accepted Christ as your savior, Bible says you are chosen by God and predestined for adoption into God’s family even before the foundation of the world per Ephesians 1:4-5. God will cause all things happened in your life – good or bad- to work together for good ultimately.
It was God’s plan that He sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of time. Even the trials and severe pains that young Joseph suffered was God’s plan and perfect will. Joseph himself testified this in Genesis 49, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.” Now Jacob in his old age along with all Joseph’s brothers are in the land of plenty (Egypt) when there was severe famine and no food in Canaan.

The twelve children and their families grew to become a powerful nation in Egypt.

God was actually transplanting Israel and his sons to Egypt in his sovereign plan to make them grow there in a land of plentiful without being destroyed by famine. Exodus chapter 1 starts by saying the names of Jacob’s (Israel’s) children who went to Egypt. Listen to this, “These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.”
These twelve children of Israel (Jacob) and their families were now set to thrive and grow into an innumerable number in Egypt and they became a vast number of population that even Egyptians were afraid of them. Bible says, “But the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them”. (Exodus 1:7). Pharaoh said the Israelites (the posterity of the 12 sons of Jacob who was later called Israel) have become far too numerous for us…. and they will become even more numerous and if a war breaks out they can join our enemies and fight against us. (Exodus 1:9-10).
Once they became numerous in number, they were now ready to form a nation according to the promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:2, ” I will make you into a great nation.” God was making a nation in and through all their difficulties and trials. God was fulfilling his covenant and eternal plan. They did not know why certain unexpected things were happening in their life. But God knew what He was up to. Now a new pharaoh came to rule Egypt who did not know anything about Joseph. The new Pharaoh down on the road, who did not know Joseph made the Israelites lives bitter and very harsh. Israelites were ruthlessly oppressed and made them work as slaves in Egypt. Why is this tragedy of ruthless oppression happening now? God already grew them into a nation and now it is time to get them out of Egypt by His own mighty hand and lead them to Canaan by giving them the law for their new nation- ten commandments and other national laws. (Exodus 20). He is going to fulfill the promise He made to Abraham back in Genesis 12 regarding the land and nation.
Time and space won’t allow me to go explain more on this topic now.

I want to bring to your attention one other point and please take this also to your heart.

2. Not only God has a much bigger plan behind your unique trials and troubles, but also God prepares you for a future ministry right in the midst of your trials and difficulties.

Most often the sad reality is this. You do not even know this truth when we experience severe trials and storms. You may be facing a circumstance that you are unable to handle or you may be experiencing wilderness experiences and you don’t even know how to escape from your current trials and tragedies. But do you know what this is how God trained and prepared many in the past to fulfill His work and ministry in future?

David.

David was alone in loneliness away from his sweet home in the wilderness taking care of the flock of his father. No fun in such experiences for a young boy like David. Day after day dealing with wild animals who come to attack his sheep and taking care of and protecting Daddy’s sheep. But do you know this, God was preparing young David for his future calling to take care and protect God’s sheep – the nation Israel. A young lonely shepherd boy, God made him become the most famous king of the nation Israel. While all his brothers were enjoying their lives back in the home having fun with their friends, David was left alone in danger and struggles in taking care of and protecting father’s sheep. But it was God’s training and coaching camp for his future wonderful calling to minister to God’s children. He never thought he would minister the people of God as their king while he was doing this job of a shepherd.
David said in Psalm 23 that the Lord is his shepherd and because the Lord is his shepherd, he lacks nothing. How did he know that at an early age of his life? His experience taught him that lesson. He knew he is the shepherd of his father’s sheep and they lack nothing because he is their shepherd. He takes care all needs of his sheep and they lack nothing. In the same way, he learned the lesson that God is his shepherd and because the Lord is his shepherd, he lacks nothing.
David made his sheep lie down on green pastures and he led them beside quiet waters. He took care his sheep in such excellent ways and he learned the lesson that the Lord being his shepherd does the same thing for him. He wrote, “even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” He knew his sheep sometimes go through the dangerous places and shadow of death, but they are not afraid. Why? David, the shepherd was with them. The same way he says even though I walk through the darkest valley or shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because David’s shepherd, the Lord, is with him to protect him in the dangerous places. When the sheep were being attacked by bear and lion, David protected them from wild animals. He was trained properly to use the stone and sling to kill even the bear and lion. We know later he used the same instruments – sling and stones – to kill the Goliath who was challenging Israelites day and night. Truly, he feared no evil for he knew the Lord is with him.
All these dangerous situations and trails of his life were God’s appointed preparation times preparing him for a future unique task. Not only these earlier times even after Samuel anointed him as the king of Israel, he had to experience painful trials for about 15 more years. Though he was anointed, he had to experience untold miseries, heart breaking pains and fear of death before he became the king of Israel. Through all these miseries, trails, frustrations and pains, the Lord was making a ‘man after His own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14) before he leads the people of God for the next forty years (seven years in Hebron and 39 years in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 2:11)

Moses

The same is the life experience of Moses. He escaped Pharoah’s evil scheme of killing all Jewish infants by God’s providence. Not only that, in God’s sovereign providence, the young Moses was cared for, protected and educated by their enemy Himself. Think the irony in all this. God prepared Moses for his future ministry by allowing him to grow in Egyptian palace as Pharoah’s daughter’s son and by giving him the opportunities to learn and grow in the best educational institutions in Egypt. But Moses knew in his heart God has a special call for him. Bible says in Hebrews 11:24-27, he left all his favorable and luxurious circumstances of life available in the palace in Egypt. He refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Rather he chose to be mistreated along with God’s people. He preferred to be obedient to God’s plan than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin in Egypt. He considered the disgrace of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because He looks forward to God’s approval and rewards in future. He left Egypt not fearing the king’s anger because he saw Him who is invisible. He understood the plan of God for his life.
You see, the plan of God is far better and superior to all other agenda this world offers you. Moses, though he was highly educated in Egypt, had everything at his disposal decided to submit himself to God’s plan and program for his life. He was recognized as one of the faith warriors of the old testament saints because of this decision he made in his life.
But immediately after understanding God’s calling for his life and responding positively to that call, for the next forty years, he struggled a lot. He ended up killing an Egyptian when he found him fighting with an Israelite and had to flee to the desert to hide from the Pharaoh. The next forty years passed. He married one of the seven daughters of a Midianites priest and restarted his career as a shepherd for his father-in-law’s sheep. That sounds like a demeaning job for a long time in his life. Moses may have questioned God many times about his condition for forty years. But as David was, Moses was also in God’s seminary and coaching camp for a long period of time. God was going to groom Moses into a great leader of the nation Israel through all his sufferings and trials. There was not another leader like Moses for Jews. God knew exactly what He was up to with the life of Moses. Forty years was a long time and Egyptian palace and all its luxuries became a very distant memory for Moses. Then one day God stepped in at the burning bush right in front of him and called “Moses! Moses!” (Exodus 3:4). God said I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob…. I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt… and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:7-10). In other words, God said, now, you are the man for the task of delivering His people from Egypt. Why? In God’s training camp of loneliness, trials, and frustrations, God groomed him for the task at hand.
My friend, I don’t know the trials you face in your life. You may think there is no way out of your painful circumstances and sorrows. I faced with such trials one after another in my life. Though I teach Bible and write Bible articles, I had and still have my own portions of severe trials and testing. many times, when I thought I won’t come out of such trials, God somehow got me out of it eventually. Do you know Bible promises, “He (God) will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”? (Romans 10:13 (d). The trials and problems we have gone through in our life, though my parents were faithful believers and prayer warriors, seem to be untold. But I admit from my heart this -His all-powerful grace was not in short supply in each of those times. Were we worried? Of course, we were. Were we discouraged and tempted even to quite Christian faith life? Yes, we were. But God’s presence and all-sufficient grace sustained us thus far and I am sure there was God’s purpose behind all that. I know and know and know in my heart that His grace is sufficient for me all through my life and after this life. Dear friend, His powerful grace is sufficient for you as well. The Lord said this to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Paul

Paul had a severe ‘thorn in the flesh” that weakened him and temporarily disabled him to do God’s work. We don’t know for sure what is the thorn that severely affected him to continue his ministry. He said it was a messenger of Satan to torment him. Paul prayed to remove the thorn three times. But God did not remove the thorn. But the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Of course, we should pray and God wants us to pray to him. We end up praying not just three times, but we pray 300 times or 3000 times. Still no answer. What would we do? Maybe God allowed that thorn to remain in your life. But along with the thorn, Lord promises His grace is sufficient for you, for his power is made perfect in weakness. You see God’s power is made perfect in your weakness. Humanly a strange answer from God, but a powerful revelation from God, right?
If our trials and difficulties won’t go away after continuous prayers, maybe God intended and planned it in our lives. There is, of course, a purpose behind such thorns. When God did not remove his thorn, he understood God gave that thorn to him with a purpose, so that he will be humble and not get proud over the surpassingly great revelations he received from God. Of course, he was given many superior revelations and he wrote many peoples in the Bible by the inspiring work of God and His Holy Spirit.
He said this, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Paul said God has a bigger plan and purpose behind my severe thorn in my flesh and instead of grieving over it and complaining about it, I am going to boast all the more gladly on his weaknesses. Why? So that Christ’s power, not his superiority or power, may rest on him. So he delighted in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. He said when he is weak, then He is strong.
Yes, it is true when you are weak, then the Lord is strong in you.
I can explain many other life examples in the Bible. But the time and space won’t allow me to include all.

The post In your trials and sufferings, God has a bigger plan. Typcially it is a preparation time in His divine school. appeared first on TeachBible.org.

On this Easter Sunday, may we never forget that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the perfect antidote to our failures in life.

Per dictionary, an ‘antidote’ is a medicine taken or given to counteract a particular poison. In its verbal form it means cancel or counteract with an antidote.

When God created Adam and Eve, He already knew in His perfect omniscience that they would fail when the serpent tempted them in the garden of Eden. He knew all in advance because He is an all knowing God. The all-knowing God promised a seed or offspring who would save us from the hands of the one who wanted to destroy us. Understanding in advance our failure and impossibility to save ourselves from our sins, God had a perfect plan to save us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ (the promised seed or offspring). Genesis 3:15
Abraham’s failure to wait patiently for the time of the Lord to get the promised son was not accidental to the LORD God. Abraham leaving the promised and going into the land of Egypt and ended up there in disgrace by telling a lie about his wife and reaped the terrible consequences was not foreign to the knowledge of God. The all-knowing God knew all about it before all these happened.

You see, God’s calling, grace and love were greater than Abraham’s failure.

Moses was appointed and called by God for a great task of delivering His people from the slavery in Egypt. A special call by God on the infant Moses was recognized by his own parent per Hebrews 11:23. When Moses got angry and killed the Egyptian and thus became a murderer, the incident was not a surprise to God. He knew all about it. Moses is the agent through whom the Lord would later give ten commandment which includes, “you shall not murder.”

You see, God’s calling and love were greater than Moses’s failure.

Where there is sin, there is death.

There is a book in the Old Testament called Leviticus which is a bloody book. What I meant by the bloody book is this-this book gives people instructions about how to come to a holy God for the forgiveness of their sins. The book is filled with prescribed sacrifices of animals. They continued to appease the wrath of God on sins by sacrificing animals in their place for their sins in olden days. Because Bible says, “without the shedding of the blood, there is no remission of sins.”
When people sin, the result is death. To avoid the immediate death of a sinner, God prescribed a temporary solution by which the sinner would bring an innocent animal to the priest and the priest would sacrifice the animal in sinners place. An innocent animal dies in the place of the sinner and thereby the sinner is temporarily saved and this process continues when sin happens again and again. The animal dies in the place of the sinner and thereby the consequence of the sinner’s sin is temporarily taken care off. But this was a never-ending continuous procedure and never intended to be a permanent solution for our failures.
Bible says this about the olden time’s sacrifices. “The law (the old testament sacrificial system) is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1-4)
In those days in the past, “day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:11). These animal sacrifices could never take away the sin issue forever. It was a never-ending system and priests stood and performed these sacrifices again and again and again believing and hoping for a once for all completer sacrifice in future. They all died in faith in that future perfect sacrifice that God promised in the Old Testament Scripture.

Jesus said it is finished. His one sacrifice finished the whole sacrificial system.

Now Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross Just before He gave His spirit in the hands of God the Father.
What is finished? All these sacrifices were pointing toward a perfect and once for all solution of the sin issue in the promised seed – Jesus Christ. John said, “ Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
“But when this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:12-14
Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all the animal sacrifices of the old testament system. He offered one sacrifice for sins. Then He finished the work on the cross, risen from the dead and sat down at the right hand of God in heaven. Then the above passage declares this eternal truth – By one sacrifice (of Christ), He had made perfect those would come to Him for salvation and eternal life because these people who recognize and admit that they are sinners are being made holy because they believed and trusted in the one and the only one sacrifice that was offered by Jesus Christ for their salvation. All are sinners and we all need the Savior Christ Jesus who died, buried and resurrected in our place for the remission of our sins.
Jesus is the perfect lamb of God for the solution of our failures. He carried our sins, iniquities and the resultant punishment of our sins on his body and went to the cross and died for you and me and thereby paid for all our sins permanently, completely and once for all.

Christ’s resurrection is the antidote for our failures.

The key is the Easter Sunday on which Christ Jesus was resurrected from the dead after His burial. His resurrection from the dead proves victory over sin and the resultant death. Christ is our victory over sin and failures. The empty tomb of Christ near Golgotha in Israel is a silent voice of God testifying He has risen from the dead and thereby our failures have an antidote in God’s lamb who is Christ Jesus. The changed lives of the Christians prove Christ’s victory over sin and death. The spread of Christianity over the entire world by the poor and weak 12 disciples who were timid and fearful and the way they changed the world with the hope and assurance beyond the grave and death, proves Christ’s victory over sin and death.
We need to turn to God with a heart filled with gratitude and worship on this Easter Sunday. Why? Because God has turned our failures into victory. God has given us victory over our sin and failures – not by our human effort (which can never save us or grant us eternal life) but by the power of the sacrifice of Christ, by the death, burial and then the victorious resurrection of Christ on the third day, by the shed blood of the lamb of God on that cross.

Bible says God has turned our mourning into dancing, He has taken off our sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

“You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” Psalm 30:11-12

Easter says to us God knew all about your failure and those things won’t exclude you from His love and service.

Peter’s failure was predicted by Christ. When Peter failed on the night crucifixion, Jesus turned and looked at him as if He was saying ‘Peter I knew all about it, my dear. But the love of Christ did not stop there. After Christ’s resurrection, He specifically sent words for Peter. An angel said to the women who came to the tomb with spices, “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” Did you notice the words, “tell his disciples and Peter”? Peter is a disciple. Why special urgency in the mind of Jesus to inform Peter?
Peter’s failure was in the mind of Jesus Christ. He cared about Peter and wanted to talk to him immediately after his resurrection. He rushed His words to Peter who denied Him in the most painful time of His life. Later Christ personally visited Peter and re-established Him to His original calling (John 21:15-17). God transformed Peter into a great apostle who opened the door for the Gospel (Acts 2).  Christ did not take away the keys of heaven that was given to him. (Matthew 16:19).

So is his love for you my friend. Do you know how much Jesus loves you and longs for you? He longed for Peter after his failure. He longs for you as well.

Jesus Christ loves you and He sends His personal words to you now. He knows all about your failure. But remember Christ’s love is greater than your failure. When God calls you, His calling, love, and grace are greater than your failures.

Pray after me:

“God, I know you deeply cares about me and I know Christ loved me, came into this world. I believe He died, buried and risen again for my sin. I repent about my sins and turn away from my sins. I accept you calling, grace and forgiveness. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior. Please save me now. Amen.”

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“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Matthew 8:29)

“Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.” (Luke 4:41)

The demons do,  but the majority of people don’t.

The above first question in Matthew 8:29 is asked by two men who were demon-possessed. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. The demons inside these two men were asking this question to Jesus Christ. Make a note of what these demons knew about Jesus Christ. The demons are calling Jesus Christ “Son of God”. They recognized Jesus Christ as the ‘Son of God.’
The second question is asked by many demons who came out of many people. In both of the above verses, the demons fully acknowledge who Jesus is, right? They make the statement Jesus is the Son of God on both occasions.
Many people in this world do not acknowledge this truth about Jesus Christ, do they? But mark it – demons do not just simply know this truth about Christ, but they publicly acknowledged in front of the people that Jesus is ‘the Son of God’. Think about it for a moment!

At least four categories of people when it comes to the topic of God.

Now, there are at least four different categories when it comes to their understanding and acknowledgment of God. These groups are Agnostic, skeptic, atheist, and theist. Per Merriam Webster dictionary defines the below definitions regarding each of these groups
1. An ‘agnostics’ is a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable. In a broader sense, an ‘agnositc’ is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god.
2. A skeptic is a person who is “an adherent or advocate of skepticism”. They are in an attitude of doubt or in a disposition of uncertainty toward something. In other words, they are the skeptic in their hearts and belief because they approach with doubt and skepticism.
3. An Atheist is “a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods”. Not believing in God period!
4. A theist is a person who “believe in the existence of god or gods: Theist is he who “believe in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world.”

In one way, demons are theists and they know and acknowledge the truth.

Based on the above dictionary definition, the demons are not agnostics, atheist or even skeptic. They know the existence of God and they also know and stated the truth clearly and emphatically – Jesus is the Son of God.

An appointed time of torture and Judgement.

We also learn that demons not only know the truth about Christ and declared it, but also know there is an appointed severe future torture time waiting for them.
Based on the first verse above (Mathew 8:29) demons also knew there is an appointed torture time for them. So they are curious why Jesus Christ is now standing in their way prior to the future appointed torture time. Bible says in Revelation 20:10 the devil who deceived many will be thrown into the lake of fire along with all his demons. A huge multitude of people who will not come to Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and salvation will also be following him into the lake of fire which is the eternal hell. This happens at the time of the second coming of Christ. The demons understood Jesus was there prior to the appointed time of their judgments. You and me know the purpose of Christ’s first coming. The two-part coming of Jesus Christ is foretold in the Bible in the Old Testament and Jesus also predicted many times about His second coming in the New Testament. Jesus came into this world on that first Christmas day as our savior, to save us from our sin. Bible says in Matthew 1:21. “and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” He lived a sinless life in this world and the purpose of His first coming was to give His holy life as a ransom for our sins. In other words, He came to save you and me from sins so that we do not need to go to hell. He was the lamb who was sacrificed for all of your sins as a fulfillment of old testament prophecies. God loves you and that is why God wants to save you from the horrible eternal hell. Do you know that the lake of fire or the eternal hell was not initially prepared for people? It was prepared for Devil and his demons. Revelation 20:10 says, “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” But any person who would not respond to God’s loving call today (during this period of grace) are choosing their future destiny with devil and demons in the eternal hell.
Devil was the deceiver from the very beginning. He deceived Adam and Eve, our first parents and based on his deception, they did sin by disobeying God which resulted in this sinful fallen condition of all human beings. But the blood of Christ which was shed for you on the cross of Calvary delivers you from that sinful and fallen condition and its consequent eternal punishment. God loves you and wants to save you and that is why God sent His only begotten Son into this world.

My friend, you don’t need to go to eternal hell. Your future still is not  hopeless like Devil and his demons. Hell is a place God prepared for Devil and his demons. But by virtue of not choosing the loving-kindness of God available in Christ Jesus and rejecting His call to come to Him for your salvation, your default place becomes hell. By not choosing God’s plan for your secure future, you are choosing eternal hell. Choice is yours. You will make one or the other choice before your death. Either you can accept the loving invitation of God in and through the person of Jesus Christ or you can reject His invitation and end up in eternity without God. God doesn’t want you to go there because He loves and that is why he offers you salvation today. God wants you to be with Him in heaven all through the eternity after your death here on this earth.

Demons are terribly afraid of their future horrible destiny.

As we alluded before even the demons are testifying Jesus Christ as the Son of God in the second verses quoted above as well. Let me restate that second verse here again.
“Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.”
You see, demons do not have any doubt about God, the divinity and the Son of God status of Jesus Christ. They are not agnostics. They are not skeptics. They are not atheists who say there is no God. On the contrary, they are actually theists (the one who believe God)- they know the truth about God and they know the truth about the Son of God.

Demons know the truth of God and they do tremble in fear.

Bible says in James 2:19, “Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe–and tremble with fear.” (Good news translation). They know the truth and they believe the truth. But their knowledge and truth make them tremble with fear. The incidents reporting by TV and News Papers tells us even the people do not have a real fear of God these days. But demons ‘tremble with fear’ when they think about God. Another translation says “they shudder”(New International translation and New American etc.) “Shudder” means, a person trembles convulsively, typically as a result of fear or revulsion, shake, vibrate, palpitate etc.
The response of demons to God is fear and trembling because they know they are unable to reverse their future destiny. They do not have an opportunity to repent or change their future. Their destiny is sealed to the lake of fire. Bible says in Jude 1:6 their sealed destiny with no opportunity for repentance or potential escape. It says in Jude 1:6 that they are kept in gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. The devil and his demons want to collect as many people with them to their final destination of eternal hell which was originally appointed for them.

Demons know Jesus is the promised Messiah.

Secondly, demons knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah for the salvation of the people. That is why it said “because they knew he (Jesus Christ) was the Messiah. I wonder why many people in this world do not understand or acknowledge this truth which the demons understand and acknowledge?

God does not need the testimony of demons because it comes out of their bitter and resented heart.

But the passage above also says Jesus rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak. Why? The demons declared the truth about Jesus Christ- that He is the Son of God and the Messiah. However, Jesus rebuked them and would not allow them to speak. Is there a reason? You see the devil and demons do not tell the truth always. They are consistent deceivers and liars and they want to keep people in bondage. Jesus said this about the devil, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Of course, out of trembling fear of the living and only true God, they declared Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah. But their natural behavior is deception and telling lies to the people to eventually destroy them and lead them to an eternity without God’s presence. Jesus does not want an attestation from the devil and his demons who generally speaks lies and deceives people. Jesus wants the testimony from His own children who accepted Him as their savior and Messiah. His children mean the people who came to Him and accepted Him as their savior from their sins. Aren’t they the right people who can testify Him in truth and experience and the Lord need their testimonies not the testimonies of the Devil or demons.

But God loves the testimony and praise of His redeemed people.

When demons testify Christ as the Son of God and Messiah, they do not and can not do it with a thankful and praise full heart because they do not have anything good or hopeful to look forward in future. They are filled with resentment and bitterness. But God purchases His dear believed children by the blood of Christ and these believers in Christ can testify Him with a heart full of gratitude. That is why Jesus rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak and testify Him.

I testify my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am filled with gratitude and thankfulness for what He did for me. I am saved from the wrath of God by the blood of Christ. I could never gain salvation but He freely gave me by paying for all my sins. I praise the good Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died for my sins on the cross. I thank Him for dying in my place to pay for and forgive my sin. I praise and thank Him for He delivered me from the kingdom of darkness and transferred me to the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ. God loved me and granted me eternal life with Him. Hallelujah and praise to God for His wonderful salvation He provided in and through Lord Jesus Christ.
My friend, Jesus Christ can transfer your future from torture and hell to heaven with Him. He lovingly calls you today. Please do not reject His call in your life. You saw even the demons testified Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Messiah. May I ask you a sincere question, what is that keeping you away from this revealed truth? Your eternity hangs in balance.
Will you accept Christ as your savior who loved you and died, buried and risen again for your salvation?

If so, please pray after me:

“God, I come to you in prayer. I believe you love me and gave Jesus Christ for my salvation. I accept Christ as my savior and Lord. I believe Jesus Christ died, buried and risen again for my sins. Please grant me eternal life with you. I do not want to go to eternal hell. I want to be safe in your presence. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, with the full authority of the Bible, I can say that you became a child of God. You are born again into God’s household and God forgave all your sins and granted you eternal life. Please find a Bible teaching and preaching church in your area and attend their meetings.
Please send me a note. Please got to www.teachbible.org and click contact/prayer tab and send me a note. Or you can go down below in this article and leave a reply and click submit down below. I will be thrilled to hear from you.

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Mark 9:28, “After Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

The background of the passage

One day there was a large crowd and the teachers of the law were arguing with them. But as soon as people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder to see Him and ran to greet Him. Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing with them about?”
At that time, a man in the crowd answered and said he brought his son who was possessed by a spirit and was unable to speak to His disciples and they were not able to drive out the spirit from his son. Whenever the spirit seized his son, it threw him to the ground and then foamed at the mouth and he gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. He complained Jesus’s disciples could not deliver his son. Then Jesus asked him to bring his boy to Him and the father pleaded Jesus to have mercy on them and heal his son if He can. Jesus responded what do you mean “if I can”. Everything is possible for one who believes. The boy’s father said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”
Then Jesus rebuked the spirit and said, “you deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked like a dead boy. But Jesus took him by his hand to his feet and he stood up.
What an amazing story showing the authority of Jesus Christ over the demons and Satan. The Gospel books in the Bible – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John- gives many incidents in which Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, exercised His power and authority over nature, demons, Satan, sickness and over death. Bible proves the fact that Jesus Christ is God and possess complete and full power and authority over all of His creation.
But my attention was on why disciples were not able to help the father of the demons possessed boy? Of course, the disciples were also very concerned about it. Think like this -you are a faithful servant of the Lord sincerely following the Lord and someone brought to you a demon possessed or a cancer patient and pleaded for your help. You know your Lord Jesus can deliver and heal and therefore you tried to do what Jesus did. But you come to the realization that it didn’t work. And you wonder why in the world it didn’t work.

Private room conversation and the answer from Jesus

The disciples asked this same question later when Jesus was inside a private room with them. They asked Him privately “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Jesus replied, “this kind can come out only by prayer.”
You see Jesus is God and He can do whatever He pleases to do. He has the control, power, and authority over all things being the creator and sustainer of all. He can say a word and that will happen. Remember, in the beginning, God created the heavens and earth by His word.
But also keep in mind we are not God. He is the creator and we are His creation. He is sovereign and we are not. We in ourselves do not have control, power or authority over anything, period! The disciples are also like us – mere humans who definitely are born again from above by their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and they are the children of God. But there is a difference.
They are not divine or they don’t have control over things. Only He, the God, has control. This is a basic lesson 101 that all true believers should keep in their heart. The lesson is we are totally dependent on Him for everything and apart from His will and help we can do nothing.
That is why He said ‘this kind can come out only by prayer’. By prayer and continuous petition to the one who has the ultimate sovereignty and control over all. It reminds us we are totally dependent on His power and His will and we can do nothing on our own. Remember Jesus taught the disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come and Your will be done.” Jesus said this to the disciples on another occasion, “I am the vine; you are the branches… apart from Me you can do nothing.” Let this echo in our mind –“Apart from Christ, you and me can do nothing. Each healing and deliverance we request has to be approved by the Lord because He needs to release His power to accomplish deliverance and healing.  Sometimes I wonder like this – is there a lesson need to be considered by the signs and wonders or miraculous healing movements leaders around the world? The rich man in Hades asked for a miracle. He requested Lazarus to be sent to the earth so that his five brothers won’t end up like him in Hades. He said if Lazarus goes back to earth after his death, they will believe in God. He was given this answer – your brothers have Moses and Prophets there in the world and let them listen to them. In other words, they have servants of the Lord who faithfully preach and teach the Word of God from the Bible. They need to listen to them. “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” (Mark 19:31). It is not the signs and miracles that open people’s spiritual eyes to the truth to know the living God. It is the Word of God – the Bible- and the teaching and preaching of the Bible that makes a person know God and receive eternal life. Bible says in Romans 10:14-15 the need to preach the Gospel and the Word of God. It says, “And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Bible also says God’s plan to save people is through the preaching of the message though it may appear foolishness to human wisdom. It says, “God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21b). Billy Graham and so many other people was instrumental  to bring thousands and thousands of soul to salvation by the preaching of the good news called the Gospel. 

Apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus said above ‘these will come out only by prayer’. A constant, consistent and continuous struggle in prayer is what we need. After all our struggles in prayer, if He approves according to our desires, praise, worship and thank God. On the contrary, if the answer to our prayer doesn’t happen the way we wanted, still we would praise, worship and thank God. Bible reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Because ultimately it is His will not our will to be done on this earth, right.? Remember God has the freedom to deliver and heal or not to deliver and heal. He knows better than us and He sees better than us. He always does what is right and God is sovereign and we are not. Paul understands such a need of prayer from our side when he said in Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be overly anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

When we battle against life’s problems and face evil in this world, keep in mind there is no easy victory. But in the midst of all these heart aching issues of life, the spiritual maturity happens and our faith grows. In short, we need to learn and practice to depend on Christ fully and completely by struggling in prayer and thanksgiving and agree with His will by praising and thanking Him.

My friend, we still have Moses and Prophets in this world to listen and get forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Moses and Prophets simply means the Bible because the Old Testament section of the Bible is written by Moses and Prophets. The New Testament is also written to show us the fulfillment of the words spoken by Moses and prophets. How the Old Testament prophecies given my Moses and prophets are fulfilled is clearly illustrated in the New Testament. Therefore Bible as a whole is Moses and prophets. Bibles clearly conveys the message that you do not need to end up in Hades or eternally away from the goodness of the Lord if you come to Jesus Christ as your savior today. This is the message the great man of God Billy Graham preached all over the world in his life time. Believe in the good news of the Bible.  Jesus died, buried and risen again for your sins. Your sins can be totally and completely forgiven by the blood of Christ which was shed for your sake on the cross. In a world where there is no peace, Jesus can give you peace, hope and purpose for your life. In him there is fullness of joy and gladness.

Please pray after me like this:

“God, I come to you in prayer. I believe Jesus Christ died, buried and risen for my sins. I accept Him as my savior now. I am sorry for all my sins and turn away from those sins and please save me now.”

If you prayed this prayer, I am glad to be the first person to welcome you to God’s family. On the authority of the Bible, I say to you that you are now a child of God and the Lord has granted you forgiveness of all your sins and eternal life in heaven with Him.

please visit www.teachbible.org and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you. thank you.

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Growing season and gathering of crops ended.

The Lord God said to the prophet Jeremiah the above-cited verse so that he can proclaim and warn the people who would not respond to God’s loving call for salvation.
Harvest is the time of gathering ripe crops from the land of cultivation and it signs the end of the growing season of crops. Now, in addition, the above passage says summer is also ended. The whole growing and the gathering of crops is ended and the summer is also ended. Now winter is on the way. A good harvest makes winter time enjoyable because there are plenty of foods to eat when the land is in a dormant stage. For those who did not do what they supposed to do in a growing season has nothing to look forward and they do not have a comfortable winter. In other words, they are not saved from the incoming danger of the severe winter.
Oh No, harvest is past, summer is ended and we are not saved! A late recognition of the lost opportunities from God.
A negative tone of sadness in the above passage right? Why? Because people were not saved even though the harvest was past and summer was ended. Bible says this period in which you and I live is called the age of grace or the dispensation of grace. God deliver His message of salvation in this period in and through His servants and then will come the harvest time when He gathers His children who listened and responded to His voice into his barn called the heaven.

Billy Graham dies at the age of 99.

Today on February 21, 2018, the world heard the news that Billy Graham, the well-known evangelist who led millions in many countries to God’s grace and eternal salvation by his preaching of the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ, went to be with the Lord in heaven. He dies at the age of 99 in North Carolina, USA. He faithfully proclaimed the message of grace and salvation all over the world during his life time. Millions of people around the world were already saved from the coming judgment and from eternal hell through his Gospel ministry.
While he was alive he made this very important statement. Read carefully. “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it? I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God. Heaven is my real home. My home is in heaven. I’m just passing through this world.” Billy Graham.
I remember my father took me to one of his crusades when I was a middle school student. There were thousands or ten thousands of people listening to the Gospel message about how the grace and love of God can save people from their sins and grant eternal life in heaven. He clearly preached how God can transfer your future address from a place called hell to a marvelous, holy and beautiful place called heaven. In each one of his crusades, he proclaimed the simple but profound message that Jesus Christ died and buried and rose again for their sins and by accepting Him as the savior, their sin can be completely forgiven and they can live in heaven with God eternally. He said Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation because God the Father sent Jesus Christ to this world. Jesus lived a sinless life and finally shed His divine, previous and blameless blood for the forgiveness of our sins. The way to God and the way to heaven is only by the shed blood of Christ. Whoever accepts Jesus as his or her savior will be saved from all their sins because the price of people’s sins has already paid by Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
You see, Gospel or this good news is not a religion. The message of salvation that is in the Gospel does not add people to any religion but it does add people to a personal relationship with their savior- Jesus Christ. The result is people get forgiveness of their sins and new life begins with the Lord Jesus on this earth – a changed character and a good and fruitful life finally resulting in eternal life after the death here. A person who believes in Jesus Christ goes to heaven at the time of his or her death, not because of any merits on his or her side and not because of any good deeds or works done, but because Christ shed His precious blood for the sins and now in the name of Christ they can enter in to heaven as a sinless and holy person and live in heaven eternally with God. Billy Graham was not preaching a religion. He was preaching the eternal and everlasting truth of the Word of God that God loves you, saves you and grants you forgiveness and eternal life in the name of Jesus Christ.
Whenever he preached this good news or the Gospel of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, after the meeting, when he called people to believe in Christ as their savior, thousands and thousands of people came forward and committed their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. Several years ago, there was a Gospel meeting in Dallas, TX in the old cowboy stadium. My family and I got the privilege to attend the meeting and listen to his Gospel preaching. That day also, as usual, thousands of people came forward after his preaching as a token or proof that they accepted Christ as their savior. What a blessing to see people are changed miraculously and truly changed forever when they come the to the savior of the world – Jesus Christ. People find peace, hope and the assurance of the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul says this in Bible in Romans 1:16-17, “I am not ashamed of the Good News (Gospel). It is the power of God. It is the way He saves men from the punishment of their sins if they put their trust in Him. It is for the Jew first and for all other people also. The Good News tells us we are made right with God by faith in Him. Then, by faith, we live that new life through Him. The Holy Writings say, “A man right with God lives by faith.” (NLV). The great apostle was not ashamed of this Gospel. He preached everywhere he went because the Bible says the Gospel (or the good news that Jesus, the Son of God, paid for your sins and you can be forgiven and go to heaven to live with God eternally) is the power of God to save anyone who comes and accept Christ as their savior.

Background of the passage of cry cited above.

The passage cited in the beginning of this article warns the tragic and sad cry of the people who failed to respond to God’s loving call in time. You see God calls your attention to the preaching of the good news of the Gospel and invite you to come to Him because He is willing to save you with no expense from your side. The background of the above passaged is this – People of Judah were so wicked and lived their life in sin forgetting the true and living God. They worshipped man-made idols who can never save them from their sins nor can offer forgiveness or eternal life. Even after repeated calls, people’s hearts were so hardened toward the truth of God, now they are going to pay for their decision of not responding to His call for salvation.
Prophet Jeremiah warned them, they would have to cry soon if they are not willing to respond to God’s loving call for repentance. “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.”
The people of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, because of their continued hardening of hearts was attacked and exiled by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. God judged them for their iniquities. Finally, you see, they had to pay very harshly and dearly for their unwillingness to heed the call of God in their lives. This was literally happened in history in BC 598.
God warned in the above passage that they would have to pay for their sins if they are unwilling to listen and come to God for their salvation. Though He sent His prophets again and again and called for their repentance and change of heart, they won’t listen to His loving call. Instead, they started persecuting Jeremiah and other faithful preachers.
You see whenever the Gospel is preached there are people who have a soft heart to listen carefully and come to the Lord Jesus for salvation and there is a second group who will harden their hearts to the good news of salvation. In Billy Graham crusades, there were thousands who listened, understood and soften their hearts to receive the Word of Salvation. They accepted the Word of God and received forgiveness of their sins by accepting Christ as their savior who died, buried and rose again for their sins. However, there was always a second group who will not be willing to listen and accept the message of salvation. It all depends on the soil of your heart – hard or soft. Some harden their hearts to the eternal truth of salvation. The result will be the judgment of God and eternal separation from Him.
Remember Jesus said about a Rich man and Lazarus. The rich man had fun and luxurious life on this earth with no time to listen to God’s call and Lazarus was a poor man with sores all over his body. Both died and angels took Lazarus to paradise and the rich man ended up in hades where there are agony and torments. The rich man was painfully conscious of the lost opportunities while he lived on this earth. But it was too late for him to make his decision after his death. This is true with you and I. Death seals our choice and no one is able to change the choice they already made once death embraces you and me. May be the rich man thought he is not going to die that soon. No body know the date of their death. Death happens when we don’t expect it. In Hades, the rich man begged to send Lazarus to his five brothers who were still living on earth. He thought when his five brothers see Lazarus coming from death, they will believe the Gospel and will get saved so that they won’t end up in hades like him. But Rich man was told, “they have Moses and Prophets there and let them hear them”. In other words, there are people who faithfully deliver the message of the good news of the Gospel. Let the five brothers listen to them. I am sure the rich man in Hades was tormented by the memory of the lost opportunities.
Historically speaking of the events happened in BC 598, they could have avoided their tragedy by believing the Word of God. Prophet Jeremiah brought the message of salvation repeatedly to them but instead of softening their hearts to the bidding and counsel of God, they hardened their hearts which resulted in bloodshed, the division of families, bondage and exile to a foreign land. They became slaves in Babylon. They sat there by the rivers of Babylon and cried about their plight. You may have heard the famous lyrics, “By the rivers of Babylon”. Bible describes their sad stage in Psalm 137:1-4 like this, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” They were so sad and depressed. Once they were good singers with harp and now when the Babylonians asked them to sing their songs, they could not sing anymore.
When the Judgment of God comes, who can stand against Him? No one can.
The City of Jerusalem was filled with blood and ruin and lamentations from all the parts of the city rose up in the air, when Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city. The city was placed in a fire. Many people lost their lives and many lost everything they had for living. The King of Babylon took many to serve as salves in his city. When the judgment of God came upon Jerusalem on that day, Bible says, “She has become like a woman whose husband has died. She who was once was a queen among the cities has become a servant made to work. She cries hard in the night, with tears on her face. All friends and lovers and friends have turned against her…. For the Lord has made her suffer for her many sins…” (Lamentation 1)
But remember God warned them ahead of time what is going to happen if they did not listen to the voice of the loving and gracious God.

May the lost opportunity never happen to you.

May the above remorse and cry of, ““Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved” never happens to you and me. May we listen to the good news of the Gospel proclaimed by God’s servants today. Please do not harden your heart. Soften your heart to the loving call of the Lord. Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For He (God) says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
The simple but profound message of salvation, the same message Billy Graham preached about 5 decades in different continents, is the one I am talking to you again today. God loves you and He sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Read this verse again slowly. God says He loves you and He even gave His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to come down to this earth and God placed all your sins on Him and Jesus carried your sins and sorrows and died in your place. After the death of Christ on that cruel cross, his body was buried and on the third day, He rose again conquering sin and death. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ shall never perish but have the eternal or everlasting life. The empty tomb in Jerusalem openly testifies even today Christ Jesus is risen again and gained forgiveness of sins and eternal life for you.
Will you turn to the Lord and accept his mercy today before it becomes late? Bible says today is the day of Grace and salvation. But there is a day going to come pretty soon, Bible warns, and it is called the day of Judgment. Bible talks about that day in Revelation 6:15-17, “Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Who is able to stand is an open-ended question that demands an answer. The right answer to the above question is No, no one will be able to stand on that day of God’s judgment. The Book of Revelation (the last book in the Bible) describes more about the coming period of severe judgment on this planet earth. But Bible also says this for your comfort and salvation, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” You don’t need to be part of God’s judgment and you can be saved from that day of judgment in and through Jesus Christ. The only reason why you will be in judgment is that you did not believe in Christ who was sent for your salvation. No other reason because the above verse says he who believes in Jesus is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already for that day of judgment.

Come to Lord Jesus Christ today Just as you are and believe He died and rose again for your sins. Bible says your sin is what separate you from God (Isiah 59:2). What can wash away your sins? Bible declares the LORD had laid all your sins and transgressions on His Son Jesus (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus paid it all with His own shed blood. Now you can regain your fellowship and friendship with God. You can become a child of God. It doesn’t matter what your past was. The Lord will give a new life and new future today onwards. In Him, there is unfailing love and full redemption for you (Psalm 130:7). The same message of Billy Graham. Please come to Christ and accept Him as your savior today. Billy Graham’s crusades usually ended with a call to come to Jesus Christ (the lamb of God who died in your place to save you from your sins) with this song.

“Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

It means this – Lord, simply just as I am I come to you without any plea. I  know Lord Jesus you shed your blood for my sins. I understand you are calling me to come to you. O Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, I come, yes I come to you now.

I will help you to pray now. Please pray after  me.

“God, I know you sent your Son to this world and He willingly died, buried and then risen from the dead to pay for my sins. I am sorry about my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior today. Thank you for saving me from the coming judgment and eternity without you. Thank you for granting me eternal life with you. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, please visit www.teachbible.org and go to contact and prayer tab and send me a note please. I will be thrilled to hear from you.

The post Billy’s good news is our good news as well. Listen, God loves you and wants to save you! appeared first on TeachBible.org.

“But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.

Hebrews 11 is a chapter in the Bible that portrays the ‘hall of faith’. The chapter talks about the giants of faith who accomplished mighty and wonderful things in their life because of their faith in the living God.

You have to have faith.

It is clear from the above passages that if you want to please God in your life, you have to have faith. Why? Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Faith in what? It says one must believe that God exists and secondly you must also believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Are you a seeker of God? Do you want to know God? In order to know God, first of all, Bible says you must have faith. Secondly, what is the object of our faith? Number one – faith inside you that says God exists and second the faith that God will reward you if you want to know Him or seek him with all your heart. This is the faith that pleases God. If you have these two things ready in your heart (you believe God exists and you believe God will reward you if you seek Him diligently), then God is pleased with you.

Faith defined

Now, what is faith? Verse 1 and 2 gives us the definition of faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. For by this faith the men of old gained approval.”
What is faith? The second above-cited passage gives the definition of faith. Faith is (a) the assurance things you hoped. You hoped in your heart that there is God and you are assured of this fact of the existence of God. (b) Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Faith in an unseen God ultimately results in the salvation of your soul.

This means you never saw God face to face but all evidence confirms you that there is God. Bible says in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen him (God), you love him; and even though you do not see him (God) now, you believe in him (God) and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,  for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” By believing in God though you are unable to see Him now, the end result is the salvation of your souls. Keep on reading, I will show how?
You look around and see the beautiful sky, stars, sun, and moon. You think about the billions of galaxies. You think about the animals, flowers, plants, and trees. You think about the beauty of the things around you and how organized and systematically arranged all the workings of the universe. For example, the sun rises every morning in the east and set every evening in the west. Then the moon comes up. You imagine the wonderful paths of the stars and galaxies. How wonderfully all these works together in a unified and organized way. You nothing around you happens without a creator by chance. Cars, houses, ships, airplanes, office buildings and you can list all. You are convinced in your heart that God exists and if not the universe or things around you won’t work the way it works. This is faith.

Faith is saying “yes” to the existence of God with an expectation of His reward.

In other words, faith is saying to the living God, “yes”, I understand you exist and I understand you will reward me if I seek you from my heart. This is faith in God.
Faith is not a work. It is a conviction and assurance in your heart. Bible affirms God saves not based on any work from your side. But a person is saved based on their faith in the living God.

Faith is instrumental to your ultimate salvation. Not any of your good works- Bible loudly proclaims

Read what Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works so that no one can boast.” A person is saved from the wrath and judgment of a holy God by grace through faith. You are not saved by any of your works done so that you won’t boast about your work. If you are saved by God not based on your works, who gets the glory? God gets the glory. This is exactly what the Bible teaches. Bible teaches not a work based salvation like other religions teach.
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law, we become conscious of our sin.” Romans 3:20. In other words, no one will be declared with a right standing with the holy God by the works of the law. The law and work only bring more of our unworthiness and consciousness of our sins. We cannot please God by our works because all our best works look like only filthy rags in the sight of the Holy, righteous and perfect God.

Do you know our best and super achievements of works looks like filthy rags to Holy God?

Bible comments about our best planned and intended work in Isaiah 64:6 like this, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”
Bible clearly and loudly proclaims the truth no well planned and well-intended work will save a person and qualify them for eternal life in heaven with Holy God after their death.
Titus 3:4-6 says God saves us not because of the right things we have done but because of God’s mercy by the rebirth into God’s family (once born in this world but by rebirth into God’s household and family) as God’s children through Jesus Christ our savior.
Read what it says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

Why are we saved by God’s mercy through Jesus Christ?

The reason is this – all of us are in the same condition because all of us have sinned and we can never save ourselves from our sinful condition. We all fall short of the glory of God. Therefore what we are unable to do, God did it for us in His mercy. The law and the works systems say to us, “do it” and we say “not able to do it”. God said ok I will do it for you. God justifies us freely (not by our good works) by His grace and mercy through the blood of Christ that is shed for you and me on the cross of Calvery. Nothing but the blood of Christ can save you and cleanse you from your sinful condition.
Read what Bible says in Romans 3:22-25.
“There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.”

You see without faith you have no access to God. No chance with God without faith. The object of faith for your salvation is the shed blood of Christ on your behalf. You see, Christ paid for your sin. When you and I were utterly helpless, God did it for you. He sent His only Son and put on His shoulder your sins, my sins and all people’s sins. He humbled Himself like a lamb, He didn’t say anything back to those people who beat and crucified Him.
Now, today you can be saved and reserve your seat in heaven with God by accepting Christ as your savior.

A beggar extending his or her hands for help in the faith of receiving a gift is a true portrait of faith leading to salvation and eternal life.

Think about a beggar who extends his hands for your help. You extend your hand and receive the gift of God in your hand freely by placing your faith in Him – the gift of salvation and eternal life in heaven with God at the moment of your death. There is nothing you can do to gain your salvation or reserve a seat in heaven for you. No other religious deities, gurus or leaders can or will take you to heaven. But Christ can and will take you to heaven upon extending the hand of your faith and receiving your salvation and eternal life.

Please pray with me:

“God, I believe you exist and I look to you today in faith. I believe you sent your only Son Jesus Christ to pay for my sins. I believe He died, buried and risen again to save me from all my sins. I repent abut my sins and turn away from it to live for you.  I accept Christ as my savior and Lord. Please save me. Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer, please visit www.teachbible.org and click contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you.

The post Like a beggar, extend your hands to God – the provider of all good and perfect gifts and that is faith in God appeared first on TeachBible.org.

A young man’s dreams were shattered.

At the age of seventeen, right at very early in his life, Joseph had a dream from God. Joseph had an aged father and eleven brothers. God gave Joseph a dream two times at his very young age. (Genesis 37). The first dream was he and his brothers were binding sheaves in the field and his sheaf rose up and stood erect and his brother’s sheaves gathered around and bowed down to his sheaf. When he told this dream to his brothers they were filled with jealousy and hated him. They asked him are you going to rule over us?
Joseph had a second dream. The dream was about the sun, moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him. When he said this to his father and brothers, they understood this means father and mother and all eleven brothers are going to bow down to him. His brothers were more jealous of him and hated him more.
Though God gave him a dream, the dream was shattered and dashed when his own brothers plotted against him, tried to kill him, placed him in a dry well and then sold him as a slave to merchants from Egypt. On the long way to Egypt, Joseph might have thought like this – I was the most loved child of my father in the family. My father gave me a multi-colored tunic that I loved much. God gave me two wonderful dreams. What is happening now in my life? Why? Not only he became a slave to Potiphar an Egyptian officer, but also he was blamed and punished for a sin that he never committed in Potiphar’s house. He ended up in prison for something he has never done and sitting in the corner of the prison he may have thought about the dreams God gave him. The dream never went away from his heart. He kept it there in his inner heart.

Did this happen to you?

You thought things are going to happen in a certain way. You had a big expectation. But all your dreams are crushed and blew away. Your own close friends and the people whom you trusted turned against you. You never thought this will happen to you. But you are a victim of someone else’s jealousy and hatred. Your heart is broken. You don’t know what to do and where to turn. All things happened so suddenly. All crashed and smashed down and here you are with disillusionment and disappointment of blew away hopes and dreams.

A close family’s hope and dreams were shattered.

I want to share with you another incident illustrated in the Bible in the Book of Ruth. A close family of four people. Dad, Mom, and two sons. They were living in Bethlehem. Now a worse famine came to the land of Israel. Due to the severity of the famine and no food, they decided to go to Moab. Now Moab was not a good place for a devout Jew to go. That was the place of idol worship, false religion, and immoral lifestyles. However, famine was heavy and they went there. The two sons got married to Moabite women. So far so good. All went well. Their sons got married and they got two daughters in their family. However, in the course of time, both the Dad and both sons died. Bad things started to come into their lives with no advance notice. Noami, the mother was left alone. Her husband and two sons died. Finally, Noami decided to go back to Bethlehem and requested her daughter in laws to go back to their own people and get married again and live in a family. One of the son’s wife, Orpah kissed Naomi and said good-bye and went to her own people in Moab. But the other daughter in law was truly a jewel. Her name is Ruth. She won’t go back to her own people. She made a covenant with Noami and she said she won’t leave Noami. She said to Noami, “do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you live, I will live. Your people shall be my people; and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16).

Are you bitter like Noami?

Noami said to people in Bethlehem when people in her old town greeted her back -do not call me Noami (pleasant) but call me Mara (bitter). And then she stated the reason to call her Mara. “Because the Almighty has afflicted me.” In other words, she believes God afflicted her. Why? All her dreams were crushed and smashed. Her family- Husband, two sons died and taken away from her. When she went from Bethlehem, there were four people. Now only one left- just her only came back. She says I am bitter in my heart and mind. I am not pleasant anymore. Call me bitter because I am so disappointed and sad because of what happened to me. This is what she meant when she requested her old friends to call her mara.

They never imagined the bigger plan of God.

In both of the above incidents peoples expectations, and dreams were shattered down fully and completely. But in both of the above incidents, Bible teach us a lesson. God had a bigger plan that they never imagined. They couldn’t see the bigger plan of God in their lives. Both Joseph and Noami could never imagine what God was accomplishing through their life.
God is a God who has an eternal plan. God knew exactly what He was doing in their lives, though Joseph and Noami could never fathom it. It was much bigger than they could ever imagine and think. It seemed a big and bad detour for them but frankly, it was not a detour for God in heaven. He was accomplishing His plan in and through them. God never makes a mistake.

Even your personal failing won’t fail God’s plan.

I want to add one more point here. Even your personal failings won’t fail God’s plan. God will still work out His plan using your failings. Would you place your trust in such a big God who revealed Himself through the pages of the Bible? He works out His beautiful plan not at your time but at His time to accomplish what He planned. I want you to keep this big picture of God even in the midst of the shattering of your dreams. Abraham’s failure won’t fail God’s plan in His life. Joseph’s brother’s failure didn’t fail God’s plan. Moses failure didn’t don’t fail God’s plan for his life. Peter’s failure didn’t fail God’s plan for his life. Child of God, take this to your heart, your own personal failure won’t fail God’s in your life.
God said to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; you shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation, they shall return here.”
In short, God was going to take Abraham’s descendants to Egypt for four hundred years and then He is going to bring them out in the fourth generation and they will come out with many possessions.”

God had to send Joseph to Egypt to prepare the way.

God said this to Abraham hundreds of years ago and now He is going to do exactly that. God had to send Joseph to Egypt so that He can carry the descendants of Jacob (Israel) to Egypt to fulfill His word to Abraham. God used the evil heart and intentions of Joseph’s brothers to accomplish His plan. But Joseph didn’t know God is accomplishing His plan and purpose nor his father or brothers knew God was fulfilling His plans in and through their life.
What an amazing incident!
When dreams shattered this young man- Joseph- wandered what is happening? He truly felt like the whole world is crashing down in front of him. He was expecting his dreams to be fulfilled but here he was faced with the crashing down the experience of his dreams. But don’t you forget. God knew exactly what He was doing. More about Joseph can be understood by clicking the link below and reading about him. Or continue reading  below the link.

https://teachbible.org/why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people-why-innocent-suffer/

When God smashes and then resurrect your dead dream, who gets the glory?

You see when your dream is completed destroyed God can reconstruct and rebuild your dream again. And when your expectation is fully dashed and when God raises it again who gets the glory? Definitely not you. God gets the glory because he reborn your dream again though it died before. Praise God!
Keep this in your heart. Things happened contrary to your expectation doesn’t mean all is ended. God can remake and reborn the original dream again and He gets the glory.
God fulfilled the dream He gave to Joseph. God raised him to the highest authority in Egypt and all his eleven brothers came and bowed down before him. Joseph, being the ruler of Egypt, saved the life of his brothers and his very aged father when they were hit with famine in their homeland. In addition, Jacob and all his children were transplanted to Egypt and fulfilled what God had decreed back in Genesis 15:13-16.
My friend, God never makes mistakes. He will accomplish his sovereign plan and purpose in spite of our failures. Our God is a big God.

They had to go to Moab to get Ruth to Bethlehem.

Noami never imagined God’s plan in her life. You see Noami and her family had to leave Bethlem and go to Moab to get Ruth. God in His eternal and sovereign plan has already seen a young girl in Moab and He wanted her to come to Bethlehem. Why? God wanted to join her to the holy lineage of Abraham. It was God’s plan. God wanted to include her in His eternal plan of salvation. God wanted to join her to Boaz so that a child called Obed will come out of their marital union. Obed’s son is Jesse who is the father of David through whose line all God’s salvation and kingdom promises would come true. David’s grandson down on the road is Joseph who is the physical father of Jesus. Mary, the physical mother of Jesus also comes through the line of Obed, Jesse, and David. Both Joseph’s and Mary’s line comes out of Obed, Jesse, and David.
Sometimes it is hard and difficult to fathom God’s plan but please be assured God will work out His plan in spite our failure. Trust the good heart of God and lean on Him and let him resurrect your dreams in His time.

God resurrected the dead dream of Naomi and Ruth.

When you come to the end of the book of Ruth, both Noami’s and Ruth’s shattered dreams were resurrected by the almighty God’s hand.
Bible records what the old Bethlehem friends said to Naomi when Obed was born to Ruth. “The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Ruth 4:14-15.
When horrible, evil and bad things happened one after another, Noami never imagined in her wildest dreams God’s plan for her life. Now she understood whose hand was behind all these incidents.
Ruth 4:16-17 says, “Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” You see how beautifully God’s eternal plan was presented in these verses. Noami and Ruth are no more without a family. God gave her and Ruth a family again. The women living there in the neighborhood said: “Naomi has a son!” Then it says his name was Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now we know Noami and Ruth became the great physical grandmothers of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom the salvation and kingdom plans of God are fulfilled.
Is your expectations, hopes, and dreams shattered, broken and destroyed? Remember God has not finished with you and with your dreams as of yet. He is going to fulfill His eternal plan in and through your seemingly dashed, crashed and destroyed dreams.
Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and do not lean our your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” God’s plan is much bigger than you can see or visualize at this time. Trust the character of God with all your heart. No matter what other people do to you, nothing can destroy God’s plan for your life. It is eternally established by the almighty God. Devil cannot destroy it either. No one or nothing can stop God’s beautiful and eternally established plan for your life.
God is able to resurrect your hopes and dreams and He will do it. When he does it, no one can stop it. God did shatter the hopes and dreams of His people to accomplish His unique sovereign plan. He did this multiple times in the past. Your crashed down dream is not an exception. Child of God, God will accomplish His plan you will look back and understand later what God meant was good and perfect for you. There was nothing bad in it. Trust the Lord and in His character and promises.
Jesus said to Peter this in Luke 22.31-32, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

A New Testament Example of shattered hope and dream.

God had an eternal plan on Peters life. Jesus said to him in Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Peter was destined to preach on the day of Pentecost and three thousand people were going to come to Christ and the church is going to be formed on this earth on that day. He is going to be the pillar of the church in Jerusalem. But Satan was also after him to break his faith and trust in Christ. But Jesus assured him in the above verse by saying, Simon, Simon, I have prayed for you. Whatever devil try to accomplish in Peter’s life to destroy his faith and ministry, Jesus is going to help Him with His supernatural power that Peter’s faith won’t fail. Not only his faith won’t fail but also after Peter’s restoration, he is going to strengthen his brothers to stand in faith. In other words, with Christ’s help, Peter is going to out of the other side with more faith and spiritual strength.
Don’t be discouraged and disillusioned if your hope and dreams are shattered by anyone around you. God is in control and He is going to fulfill His plan in and through your life. And when God accomplish this, He is going to get full glory. That is the most amazing beauty of His glorious plan.

Prayer time: Are you bitter because your hopes and dreams are smashed and shattered? There is a living God in heaven who can resurrect your hopes and dreams from ashes. You need Jesus Christ as your savior- the only savior of the world. Bible says God has a good plan in store for you. He grants hope and good and safe future. God will use you to accomplish His plan and purpose for your life. God loves you and as an example of His unconditional love for you, He gave His only begotten son to die for your sins. That much He loved you. God is asking you come to Him in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son. You can become a child of God today and get forgiveness of all your sins by a simple prayer today. Please pray after me.

“God, I come to you in prayer. I know you love me and has a good and safe plan for me. I know you gave your only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins on the cross. Please forgive my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. Please save me. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, I have the privilege to welcome you to God’s loving family now. You are a child of God and all your sins are fully and completely forgiven by God. Please find a Bible teaching church in your area and grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Please visit  www.teachbible.org and go to contact/prayer and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you. May the Good Lord bless you and give you back all hopes and dreams. He will do it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

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Again we are right in the season of Christmas 2017. Every year the season of Christmas challenge each one of us to consider who Jesus was. Some people think Jesus was a good philosopher, others think He was an excellent teacher or a prophet. People in the world think about Jesus in different ways.

The most profound question that one will ever answer.

In fact, do you know this is the most important question that you will ever answer on this side of the eternity while you live on this short life here on this planet called earth? Your answer to the question ‘who Jesus is?’ is definitely going to determine your destiny and final destination. The most profound question you will ever answer.

Peter got the right answer.

Listen the conversation between Jesus and His disciples in Matthew 16:13-17 from Amplified version. Almost all of the verses in this article are quoted from Amplified version.
“Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.”
Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
Peter answered the question and said, “you are the Christ (the long-awaited Messiah that was prophesied in the old testament section of the Bible hundreds of years ago). Then he added one more sentence, “the Son of the living God.” When Jesus heard Peter, He said it is not a man or man’s intelligence that revealed this truth to Peter. But it is the Father God in heaven who revealed this truth to Peter. The answer to the question ‘who Jesus is?’ is a spiritual question and only God in heaven can reveal this truth to you. In fact, you may be thinking Jesus is another prophet or a great person world had ever seen. But the truth is Jesus is much, much bigger than your imagination.

Let me explain what I meant- The idea of Christmas didn’t begin on the first day of Christmas.

You see, the idea of Christmas didn’t begin on the first Christmas day. You may wonder why I said this, right?
Bible says in Philippians 2: 6-11, Jesus existed in the exact essence and form of God way back in the eternity past. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit existed in perfect harmony in the triune Godhead even before the creation of all things. Even before the creation of the earth, the sky, the stars and the mankind, in a counsel in the eternity past God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit entered into an eternal covenant. This covenant is called the eternal covenant of blood (Hebrews 13:20) in which the eternal Son of God agreed that He will come down to this blue planet called earth by incarnation through the womb of a young girl called Mary, live in this world without sin, as fully God and man, and finally die by giving His precious, sinless and holy blood for the redemption and forgiveness of our sin. This agreement was even before the fall of the Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58). God in his foreknowledge knew what is going to happen in the garden of Eden and to the posterity of Adam and Eve. He already had a plan in place for the salvation and redemption of Adam’s race. God the Father agreed in return that He would raise Jesus Christ from the dead and exalt Him and give Him a name above all names and all those are in heaven, on earth and under the earth will bow down to Him and confess His name to the glory of God the Father. Bible says God gave all authority of future judgment is given to Christ. John 5:22-23 says, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

1. The pre-existence of Christ as the Son of God in heaven.

You see what happened on the first Christmas day in Bethlehem was the implementation of the eternal plan of God.
Bible says in 1 Peter 1:20, “For He (Christ) was foreordained (foreknown) before the foundation of the world, but has appeared [publicly] in these last times for your sake.” Christ was in existence way before the first day of Christmas or even before the day of Abraham and the Garden of Eden. He was with God in perfect unity of triune Godhead along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
According to the eternal covenant of blood agreed and ratified in the eternity past, Christ, the very God Himself, came into the world in a for-ordained and foreplanned rescue mission for the lost sinners, to reestablish their fellowship back with God.
You see the answers to the questions who Jesus is and why the first Christmas in Bethlehem will determine your final and eternal destiny and destination. You see, Jesus Christ is God and before anything existed there was Christ. Bible confirms the eternal co-existence of Christ with God the Father in John 1:1-4. It says, “In the beginning [before all time] was the Word Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him, and without Him, not even one thing was made that has come into being. In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.”
Did you see what has said above, before all the time, in the eternity past was the Word (that is Christ) and the Word (Christ) was with God? Not only Christ was with God, but it says Christ (the Word) was God Himself.

John in his epistle chapter 1:1-2 says about Christ like this- “[I am writing about] what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life [the One who existed even before the beginning of the world, Christ]— and the Life [an aspect of His being] was manifested, and we have seen [it as eyewitnesses] and testify and declare to you [the Life], the eternal Life who was [already existing] with the Father and was [actually] made visible to us [His followers]. John says he is wrting about Christ who was from the beginning (eternity past) existed as God. He testifies they have heard, they have seen with their eyes and they have touched Him with their hands. In short, Jesus Christ was God wrapped in flesh.

2. Christ is the exact reflection and image of God.

Bible affirms God is Spirit and invisible. But how do you and I know about God if He is Spirit and invisible- what He is like, what is His character, His attributes? Look at Jesus Christ and you will know about God because He is the exact image or reflection of God. Bible affirms Christ is the perfect reflection and image of God. Bible says in Colossians 1:15, “He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation.” Christ Himself claimed this when He was on this earth in John 14:8-9. Philip said to Him (Jesus Christ), “Lord, show us the Father and then we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you do not know Me yet, Philip, nor recognize clearly who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ The way Jesus loved, taught people, performed miracles -healed the sick, delivered the demons possessed people from devil and demons, fed more than 5000 people with five loaves and two fishes, stopped the wind and storms in the sea, walked on the water- testifies and proves He was God. The compassion and deep love of Jesus toward the people, His power over the nature, raised people who were dead, His knowledge and understanding of the hearts of the people and finally His victorious accomplishment the purpose of His incarnation by giving Himself as a ransom or price for our sins and on the third day raised according to the eternal covenant of blood which was decreed even before the foundaiton of the world- look at all these things and many more than I described here in the pages of the Bible and you will see the living God in Christ.
Bible says in Colossians 2:9, “For in Him (Christ) all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God.), This states all the fullness of God dwells in bodily form in Christ. In short, to see God, look at Christ.
When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father God in heaven, Jesus replied don’t you recognize me? Anyone who has seen Me (Christ) has seen the Father. In another occasion in John 10:30 Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.”
Bible says in Hebrews 1:3 this truth about Jesus as the exact expression and representation of God the Father. Read what it says, “ The Son (Jesus Christ) is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence.” You see, it says Jesus Chris is the radiance and only expression of the glory of God and the exact representation and perfect imprint of God the Father.
That is why we can safely say with assurance that those who have seen Jesus Christ physically or through the pages of the Bible have seen and known God intimately.

3. Christ is the creator of all that is in existence.

Bible says about Christ in John 1:3, “All things were made and came into existence through Him (Christ), and without Him (Christ) not even one thing was made that has come into being.” Amazing! right? ‘Without Him, not even one thing was made that has come into being.’ Think about it!
Another passage says in Colossians 1:16, “For by Him (Christ) all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him.” All visible and invisible things in heaven and on earth, thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities- all things were created and even exist through Lord Jesus Christ.
Bible says in Genesis 1:1 “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Jews and Christians agree that there is only one God. However, by the use of the Hebrew word “Elohim” even as early as in the first verse of the Bible, Bible suggests though God is one, He is plural. This is something very hard to understand by human intellect or wisdom. El is the singular form and Elohim is the plural form. For some reason from the very beginning of the Scripture, this truth that God as one but the plurality in Godhead is revealed in the scripture. The plurality revealed is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. All three are same in essence and presented three different persons. The son of God is expressed as the ‘Word’ in John 1:1 as we discussed above in this article. It is by the Word of God that God created all in the beginning (read Genesis 1). Bible reveals the ‘Word’ is the Son of God – Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:6 says, “yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” Read the above passage slowly. One God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him. There is one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we exist for Him.
The Son is the exact image, radiance, and representation of God the Father and it is by and through Christ all things were made that were made. In other words, Christ is the creator of all things in heaven and earth. All that is visible and invisible are the hand works of Christ Jesus.

4. Now Bible also affirms another truth- Christ holds together and sustains all created things.

Bible says in Colossians 1:16-17 reveals not only by Christ all things were created in heaven and on earth- visible and invisible things- but also all things exist through Him and for Him. It says here, Christ existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Means He controls and He is the force that controls and sustains all things in the universe.
Read what it says, “all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [He is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.” I am not a scientist. But I know it is mind-boggling to think about galaxies and stars all over our head every day. Read about the milky way and the number of stars. Billions and Billions of stars right? Billions of galaxies! How come they are all kept safe from massive breakups and universal dangers? Who does this work? Bible says not only Christ created all things but he holds all together. The secret of the reason why the whole universe working in a cohesive, organized and co-operative way is because of the power of the Son of God – Christ – who keep all together in an orderly fashion by the might of His supernatural power.
Now, do you know there is a day coming in near future it will all end by the same word who created the whole universe and holds it together? Bible says this in 2 Peter 3:7, “By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
See if Christ doesn’t hold the universe together by His word, all would explode and collapse. Thank Christ, the Son of God, who sustains and holds it all together. Bible says in Hebrews 1:3, “the Son is ……upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal].” Did you notice the Amplified version says,  “He is sustaining and upholding all together in the universe to its pre-determined goal.” This is the pre-determined agenda from the eternity past – the eternal plan and counsel of God- the everlasting covenant of blood by the sacrificial death of Christ on the Calvary and the safe future of those who accept Christ as their savior and the unimaginable horrible future of those who reject Christ as their savior.

Do you know why He is holding it together in an organized way?

Do you know why Christ is sustaining and upholding all with all caution until He would destroy the current sky and earth by the power of His Word? Bible gives the reason in the same section in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
You see God’s love for you so deep and wide that He doesn’t really want you to go to that place called ‘hell’, because it is so bad and horrible a place, my friend. He is showing His longsuffering toward you, not willing any should perish. But it is His desire that all should come to repentance and turn to God in and through Lord Jesus Christ.
My friend, may I ask you this question with a heavy concern regarding your eternal destination? Have you called upon Jesus Christ for your salvation as of yet?
You see, Christmas did not really begin on the first day of Christmas on this earth. The ideas of Christmas began way before in the eternity past, in the counsel of the God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is agreed and ratified in the eternity past before the creation of all. God had a plan for you. A good plan to give you a future and safety in heaven with Him. In the eternity past, God knew He would create the earth and the heavens. Then He knew He would create man (Adam) in His own image, He knew He would create a suitable helper for the man (Eve). He knew even though He is going to place them in a perfect environment of innocence, the devil will approach them and upon devil’s temptation, the first man and women would fall into sin. By foreknowing all these things in His omniscience foreknowledge, God had an eternal plan to save Adam’s race provided they would turn to the Savior, Christ Jesus. According to this everlasting covenant of the blood of Christ for the remission of sins, the very God Himself incarnated into this world. Christ, the Son of God, came to this world to accomplish and finish the rescue mission of your salvation. To take you back to God in a loving relationship as a child of God for all eternity future. He regained that which was lost – the fellowship and friendship with God.
This is Christmas is all about! Have you come to this awareness as you celebrate Christmas this year? Bible declares in Romans 10:13, “WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD (IN PRAYER) WILL BE SAVED.”
May this Christmas be a meaningful Christmas for you. What a joy waiting for you if you find this truth? What a joy in heaven in the presence of God’s angels have if you call upon the Lord Jesus today for your salvation. Bible says in John 1:12, “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”.
I sincerely wish and pray you would find the truth in this Christmas season and it will be a matter of true and permanent joy for you. God loves you. Please come to a loving relationship with the almighty God of the universe in and through the name of Jesus Christ today. Bible says your name will be written in the Book of life in heaven, all your sins will be forgiven and you will live in heaven with God eternally at the moment of your death. This is because you believed the truth and trusted in Christ who is the savior of the world –who faithfully fulfilled and finished the covenant of blood (the everlasting covenant) for your salvation.

Prayer time: You can invite Christ as your savior in a small prayer with me now. Pray after me.
“God, I know you love me and has a great plan for my safe future and well being. I admit I am a sinner and I believe Christ came into this world and died for my sins, buried and risen from the dead. I know He paid for my sins fully and completely on the cross. I accept Christ as my savior now. Please save me. Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer, with the authority of the Bible, I invite you to the family of God. You became a child of God now and you are born into God’s family. Bible promises God has erased all your sins and you have everlasting life with God in heaven. Please go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you. Thank you for doing this.

The post Another Season of Christmas. But Who is Jesus? appeared first on TeachBible.org.

I am not sure if there is another worldwide seasonal celebration like Christmas. When you think Christmas is celebrated in all different nations and cultures. It is truly a global season of celebration.
It is also important to think and meditate the reason for this season called Christmas. Christmas is a unique time to be thankful and it is because of the gratitude for what God had already done that people give gifts to one another in this season of Christmas. I believe no other time of seasonal celebration is rooted in gratitude and deep thankfulness as Christmas is. Of course, there are people who celebrate the season of Christmas without pondering the reason behind the celebration. But let us take a moment and understand the reason for this wonderful season and that could easily transform us inside out.
The amazing and wonderful truth of Christmas is God gave His best gift to humanity on the first day of Christmas and because God gave His very best gift we the humans, are prompted and motivated to become grateful and thankful. Not only we become grateful, but also we want to give our best gifts to others around us, don’t we?
You see, Bible is the only book on the earth that contains prophecies about the future. Twenty-seven percent of the Bible are prophecies. No other religious book contains prophecies or gives any record of fulfilled prophecies. Bible is unique because of hundreds and hundreds of prophecies in the pages of the Bible. Not only Bible has prophecies but also there another truth. Several hundreds of the prophecies in the Bible are already fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy with one hundred percent historical proofs.
The reason for the season of Christmas is the incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas reminds us the Son of God came down to our planet earth from heaven.

 A trip to moon changed an astronaut for the rest of his life

James Irvin was a NASA astronaut who walked on the moon during Apollo 15 who became a believer in Jesus Christ after his walk in the moon said like this, “Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.” I read an article titled “Encounter with Jesus on the moon left astronaut changed” by Mark Ellis. The writer explained how the astronaut became a true believer in Christ on the surface of the moon. Irwin faced with serious problems on his planned experiments in the moon. He asked for God’s help and said, “God I need your help right now.” He experienced the presence of Jesus Christ and in an answer to his prayer Lord Jesus Christ showed him the solution to the problem and he was able to complete the experiment successfully. He says Irwin felt God’s presence very near to him and he felt like God is with him there on the surface of the moon as if God is there standing near to him. James Irwin became a missionary of Christ and he resigned his astronaut career in NASA and began traveling the world to preach about Jesus Christ. God gave him a deep desire in his heart to share the message of Christmas which is really the Gospel- the good news about God loves them and send His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to save them from their sins and take them to heaven with Him. Irwin used to say, “God decided that He would send His Son Jesus Christ to the blue planet and it is through faith in Jesus Christ that we can relate to God. He quoted what Jesus Himself said in his preaching, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
For about 20 years after his resignation from NASA, Astronaut James Irwin became an evangelist for Christ in this world. James Irwin carried small flags that he had from the moon. He took this small flag to many countries to share the good news of the Gospel – the saving message of Lord Jesus Christ.

First Christmas – A  fulfillment of several Bible prophecies.

As I alluded before God want you to know this- Christmas and incarnation of Christ -was one of the several prophecies of the Bible that were fulfilled in time and history with pinpoint accuracy. There is definitely a reason for this season that is celebrated throughout the world.
Bible amazes me every day with its fulfilled prophecies. I challenge you to read and learn the Bible. It will change your life and you will know who God is and what He can do in your own personal life. An amazing prophecy regarding the birthplace of the Messiah in Micah 5:2 is fulfilled on the day first day of Christmas. Read in Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one will be the ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” The fulfillment of this was so amazing. This prophecy concerning the exact place/location of birth of the Messiah would not have taken place if Caesar Augustus did not issue a decree for a census in the entire Roman world. Read the wonderful fulfillment of this Bible prophecy in the Bible in Luke 1:1-20. All people had to go to their own town to register for a census ordered by Caesar Augustus. Joseph, a young man who was betrothed to young virgin Mary also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem the town of King David because he belonged to the house and line of David. While they were there in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to be born. God brought Joseph and Mary from about 80-90 miles away in Nazareth (about 4 days journey on foot) to Bethlehem and then Jesus was born in the place prophesied hundreds of years ago. This is another evidence of the pinpoint accuracy of the Bible prophecy. How wonderful and mind-boggling the accuracy of the Bible prophecies.

God said in the Bible in Isaiah 9:6-7, way before in the 8th century before Christ, about the coming of Christ into this world. Please read slowly and thoughtfully – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called the wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
Did you notice the prophecy said ‘a child is born, a son is given’? Christ’s life didn’t begin at the time of His birth. Bible says the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was in existence before His incarnation on this earth. A Child is born and a son is given to us. In the triune Godhead of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, Christ was already there in heaven with God from the beginning. God gave His only Son to save us from our sins and guilt so that one day when you die you can live with God in heaven. That is why it is said in the above verse ‘a son is given to us’. Bible says in John 1:1-3 reveals the eternal existence of Christ in heaven with God the Father. Listen what it says there, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. Who is this word? The word was referred ‘He’ in the above verse, right? When you read more and come down to verse 14 it says there who this word is. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The eternal word, the Son of God became flesh and made His dwelling among us on the first Christmas day.
Then it says in verse 16-18, “Out of his (Christ’s) fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
Do you know what it says above? God sent His son into this world on the first Christmas day. That was the miracle of all miracles. God became man and walked on this planet earth for about 33 years. You see Bible says in the above verse this truth – No one has ever seen God. But do you want to see God? The one and only Son, Jesus Christ, who himself is God and is in closest relationship with the Father has made known God to us. If you want to know God, take a close look at Jesus Christ from the pages of the Bible.
This is the reason why James Irwin said, “Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.” He understood this truth and the truth opened his spiritual eyes and He started traveling around the world until he died witnessing Christ to thousands and thousands of people in this globe.
I discussed only the first section of the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-7. The first part is fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy on the first day of Christmas. The second part of the prophecy regarding the greatness of His government and peace with no end, reigning on the throne of the king of David which is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant prophesied in 2 Samuel 7:12-17 will be fulfilled exactly like the fulfillment of the first part of the prophecy in the very near future. This is called the millennium (thousand year rule of Christ on this earth). Please refer the study Bible section of this website for more details about the prophecies concerning God’s covenant with David, Millennium etc. By the way, did you notice what is said in the last verse above? It said like this,” The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” If the first part of the prophecy was already fulfilled by the zeal of the LORD at the time of the incarnation of the Son of God, the second part also will be fulfilled by the same zeal of the LORD in near future.
Another prophecy that was fulfilled on the first Christmas day was in the Bible in Isaiah 7:14. It said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” This is literally fulfilled at the time of the birth of Christ. Bible says in Matthew 1:23-23 an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said this regarding the young virgin called Mary who was betrothed to him but not married or came together yet, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”). Matthew, the Gospel writer is quoting from Isaiah 7:14 and informed us this prophecy is fulfilled in Christ. Jesus Christ’s incarnation was ‘Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us’. The meaning of the word Jesus is “He will save His people from their sins.” Mary was a virgin and this is confirmed by Bible in Luke 1:26-27. It says “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to be a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” The use of the phrase ‘a descendant of David’ is also a fulfillment of David’s covenant (God pre-told in 2 Samuel 7:12-17, 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 and 2 Chronicles 6:16) that the promised Messiah and king will come from the line of King David.

Did virgin conceive a baby?

You may be wondering how a virgin can conceive a child right? Don’t worry, Mary also had the same question. Bible says in Luke 1:34, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel gave the answer to this perplexing question in verse 35. “The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for that reason, the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” It means without the help of a husband, Mary is going to carry the eternal Son of God in her womb. How? The all-powerful third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, will come upon her and the power of the Most High God will overshadow her womb so that Mary’s sinful nature won’t pass to her son Jesus Christ. In other words, her womb is sanctified and protected by the power of the Holy Spirit of God and by the power of Most High God. Therefore, the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God. There will be no transfer of Adam’s sinful nature possible to Jesus Christ because of the overshadowing of the power of the Most High God and Holy Spirit on Mary. “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22).
The holy child who was conceived in Mary’s womb was not by any human seed. Without a husband, this child was conceived by the overshadowing and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the Most High God.

All the way back to the dawn of the history.

The first prophecy about the Messiah who will save the people and crush the enemy, Devil, was given in Genesis 3:15 immediately after the fall of our first parent in the garden of Eden. The LORD GOD was pronouncing the verdict against the devil who deceived Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and tempted them to disobey God. This is what Bible records what God said to Devil, “And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
God will put enmity between Devil and the woman and going forward down in the history ‘between Devil’s seed and her seed’. He (woman’s seed) will bruise Devil on the head. And you (devil) shall bruise him (woman’s seed) on the heel. Did you notice few points here? First, the enmity was between Devil and woman (of course Devil approached the woman (Eve) and tempted here to do sin and disobey God. Second, the enmity was to go down through the generations. This is the ongoing enmity between devil’s seeds and woman’s seeds. The Godly seed was not going down through Cain or Abel but it was continued through Seth, then the line continued through Noah’s son Sham, Abraham, David, Solomon to Joseph and Mary (Christ’s physical father and mother).

Did you notice above what is the promise said, “He (women’s seed) will bruise devil on the head? It says woman’s seed. It didn’t say woman’s and man’s seed combined. Only woman’s seed. What is this means? This prophecy should be literally fulfilled in a women’s seed without the aid of a man. This is the importance of virgin birth. This is why later other prophecies we discussed above said “A son is given to us” and a ‘virgin will conceive and give birth to a son.” These Bible prophecies along with hundreds and hundreds of other Bible prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus Christ in pinpoint and one hundred percent accuracy.
Truly Jesus Christ, the holy one from God, was conceived and incarnated by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the power of the Most High. Christ, the Son of God, bruised the head of the devil on the cross of Calvary when He shed his holy blood for humanity’s sin problem. Christ said on the cross just before His death, “It is finished.” This means He has finished the work of redemption for the humanity. He fully paid for the sins of you and me on the cross by his own holy and blameless blood. Bible declares Christ gave Himself as a ransom (the price given for redemption to set us free from devil’s power and bondages). 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”

Women’s seed bruised the head of the devil

As promised in Genesis 3:15, Bible explains in Colossians 2:13-15,  how Christ fulfilled this promise by bruising the head of the devil, erased and freed us from our sinful past. This is how it is described, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” It is also true that Devil bruised women’s seed (Christ) on the heel. But the fact is that Devil was ignorant of God’s eternal plan of redeeming Adam’s race from their sins by the shed blood of Christ and His resurrection from the dead on the third day.

Christ actually canceled the charges against you and nailed them to His Cross.

My friend, you see, we had a legal indebtedness to Holy God for our sins and evil behaviors. On the cross, Christ bruised the head of the devil, canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. Christ has taken the charges away and nailed those charges to His cross. He disarmed the powers and authorities of the devil and made a public spectacle of them. Christ triumphed over the evil powers of the devil by the cross. Jesus Christ was on a rescue mission to rescue you and me from the kingdom of darkness and the power of the devil. He fulfilled His rescue mission for us by paying for all our sins by His blood on the cross. No more sacrifices needed. Christ became the propitiation or satisfaction for our sins in the sight of the Holy God.
Prayer time: Christmas reminds that God loves you and He has a great plan for your future. A plan of wonderful hope, safety and security for you personally. God so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). See the word ‘whoever’ in the above verse. It doesn’t matter who you are, whoever you may be, God wants you to know God loves you and He freely gave His only begotten son to die for your sins so that whoever calls upon the name of Christ and believes in their heart that Christ died and risen from the dead for their sins will be saved. Bible, God’s word promises you will not perish but you will have forgiveness of all your sins and everlasting life in heaven with God at the moment of your death.

Pray after me now like this. “God I believe you love me and I do believe you gave your only begotten Son for my sins. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He died, buried and risen for my sins. I accept Christ as my savior. Please save me.”

If you prayed this prayer, I declare in the authority of the Bible that you are saved and granted eternal life now upon this prayer.
Please do me a favor. Please go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you.

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