Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Beslissen wat we moeten doen met de gegeven tijd
A truth we all have to face is that the days pass by and that we are always limited by time. It is the ticking of the clock which may remind us that we have to take in account the time. Day and night bring us to face the reality of the day, where we have to make a distinction between the real and the unreal; between knowledge and perception.
We may not forget that “Truth” is unalterable, eternal and unambiguous. Truth might be unrecognised, but it will not be changed. Truth applies to everything that God created, and only what God created or allows to exists is real and true. This is beyond learning because it is beyond time and beyond the limited awareness of processing thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
Truth has no opposite; no beginning and no end. Truth is real, unchanging and it is the serene peace of faithfulness.
Manny may be looking for truth at the wrong place. We would like to know that the best place to find truth is the Bible.
As we come to the end of 2018 it is perhaps not bad to check how media distorted truth and how much we were confronted with fake news. True news shall be that we soon shall have to face an other year with again new steps to undertake. People should know that there is also the truth that time is starting to run out. Every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, we are getting closer to the moment of truth. Before it is so far, make sure you are ready. Come to know who is the way to God and how you should be ready for hard times to come.
Today we are still connected to the time, not able to escape it. We are not able to stay young and healthy. We are all confronted with difficulties in life and illnesses. And at a certain point in life we shall have to face it that we shall not be able to be under the living on this earth. We even shall not be able to stop the time when we die. Then our body shall decay to become dust and nothingness again.
The truth of life is that there is no nothingness. When you get drown in the idea of being a nothing or to live in a nothing, you are strangling yourself. Speak of nothing can bring to mind a sense of desolation and darkness, plus can bring you in a space where you feel the emptiness
Although we may describe times of our life interchangeably using nothingness or emptiness, they have different meanings for Christians.
We should not be afraid of the time passing, of empty moments, of scaring moments, of darkness coming over this world. By time we should come to see the signs of the times the book of books speaks so many times. We as Christians are to pour ourselves out in time, treasure, and talent and be ready for others to help them come through the times. When others are afraid of darkness or certain times coming we can show the the light in that darkness.
When at 24.00 hours today sounds the fireworks and light up the skies, we should be happy, because we know we received again one more year to be here on earth and to come closer to better times. And let us not forget, having time, it means also we have to consider our obligation brought by the time. Our responsibility to make the best out of time and to take up a responsible position in times to come. Are you aware of the content you are going to bring in time, this coming new year?
For the time being, we hope you had a nice 2018 and wish you all the best for 2019.
+
Concerning time, read: Coming to the end of 2018
+++
Though many may be happy there has been an increase of theological books, we can see that the interest in God has diminished a lot more.
It is not because scientifically we can not prove an existence of something that it doe snot exist. The same with God, we not able to proof He does exist or does not exist, makes it not that He would not exist.
Our minds cannot fully comprehend the Divine Creator. He seems untouchable and incomprehensible. Though if we would look more to the things around us and listen to our inner soul, we would be more sure. Also when we would listen to the Words in the Holy Scripture and let them enter into our heart we shall come to understand lot more things. Listening to the heart will also give lots of answers.
It is not our minds cannot fully comprehend it that we would have a sound reason for rejecting the existence of God.
.
Levels of existence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Consider examples: (1) Time. No one can point to a certain moment as the beginning of time. And it is a fact that, even though our lives end, time does not. We do not reject the idea of time because there are aspects of it that we do not fully comprehend. Rather, we regulate our lives by it. (2) Space. Astronomers find no beginning or end to space. The farther they probe into the universe, the more there is. They do not reject what the evidence shows; many refer to space as being infinite. The same principle applies to the existence of God.
Other examples: (1) Astronomers tell us that the heat of the sun at its core is 27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit (15,000,000° C.). Do we reject that idea because we cannot fully comprehend such intense heat? (2) They tell us that the size of our Milky Way is so great that a beam of light traveling at over 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/sec) would require 100,000 years to cross it. Do our minds really comprehend such a distance? Yet we accept it because scientific evidence supports it.
Which is more reasonable—that the universe is the product of a living, intelligent Creator? or that it must have arisen simply by chance from a nonliving source without intelligent direction? Some persons adopt the latter viewpoint because to believe otherwise would mean that they would have to acknowledge the existence of a Creator whose qualities they cannot fully comprehend. But it is well known that scientists do not fully comprehend the functioning of the genes that are within living cells and that determine how these cells will grow. Nor do they fully understand the functioning of the human brain. Yet, who would deny that these exist? Should we really expect to understand everything about a Person who is so great that he could bring into existence the universe, with all its intricate design and stupendous size?
To remember:
Preceding articles:
Caricaturing and disapproving sceptics, religious critics and figured out ethics
Science, scepticism, doubts and beliefs
Why think there’s a God? (1): Something from Nothing
Why think there is a God? (2) Goldilocks Effect
Why Think There Is a God? (3): Why Is It Wrong?
Why think there is a God (4): And the Rest …
Why think that (4) … God would reveal himself in words
++
+++
Once again some debates about science, beginning of the universe, evolution and who can believe in what, is being going on in several heated debates.
A composed satellite photograph of North America in orthographic projection. The observer is centered at (40° N, 95° W), at Moon distance above the Earth. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Lots of North Americans seem to have a lot of difficulties with the way people want to look at the creation. For many of them it seems impossible to take the creation as having taken part in different phases others than a day of 24 hours. They seem to forget that God has a total different measuring than our present time system.
In the United States of America many science professors say they do not think it is possible that a scientist believes in God. In other countries we can find scientist who were atheist but by their scientific findings and getting to see what was written in the Bible did come to the Christian Faith.
Billy Graham, American religious figure. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Billy Graham in care of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote about this question:
Over the years I’ve met many outstanding scientists who not only believed in God, but were also dedicated followers of Christ. Many, in fact, told me that they’d first become believers because of their scientific studies.
Why was this? One reason, they said, was because they came to see that it was more logical to believe in God than not believe in Him. No matter where you look — through the most powerful telescope or the strongest microscope — the complexity and the beauty of the universe point to an all-powerful Creator. In other words, believing that the universe “just happened” takes far more faith than believing in God! The Bible says,
“Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20).
But my scientist friends also realized that science has its limits. Science can describe what the world is like, but it can’t answer the questions of why we’re here or where we’re going when we die. Only God can give us the answer to these spiritual questions, and He has answered them through Jesus Christ.
Don’t be put off by the unbelief of others. Instead, turn to Jesus Christ and open your heart and mind to His truth as it is revealed in the Bible.
…. Only in Christ, the Bible says,
“are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
++
+++
God’s primary instrument for the spread of the Gospel here and around the world is the local church. We know from the New Testament that Christ is building His church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
Being born, growing up. Days which start and days which finish. Days and nights, working hours, moments of rest and relaxation. From baby, encountering lots of difficulties in our will to try to find out and to try to do things. when times come before our eyes and we see them go past, we can only see that somehow we keep carrying them with us for the rest of our life. We sometimes we think we forget them, but suddenly they reappear. Sometimes we can not let the past for something what is gone. It may have been fortunate or may have been awful.
Students look at a section of the exposed Wasatch Fault, a classic normal fault located in North Salt Lake, Utah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
How many people do we not know who are trying to run away from their past? Sometimes we meet people who do not want to be remembered of their past. Several people do everything they can to get all remembrances of their past out of their way. Others only want to keep certain pictures going around to show the better part of their passed moments. As such they can get the less nice moments into oblivion.
Nobody wants to remind those painful moments of their life. We all want to dream of better moments and of miraculous and magical life. If things happened in our lives which we did not like, we prefer to put the fault to something or some one else. Mostly we do not want to see the fault by ourselves, and when we see that we ourselves where at fault often we do not want to admit it. Most of us do not want to have the pain to be remembered at those bad things that happened in our lives.
We would love to see that no bad things would happen to us. As soon as everything seems to go so smoothly, then with a finger snatch everything seems to go wrong. Moods change so easily.
Many of us do not like it when things go wrong or when we are brought in a bad mood. Most of us do not want to be angry or in a bad mood, but the anger and bad mood come again and again.
What can we do against it?
One moment everything looks to go enormously well, the other moment everything turns out to go terrible. The world has seen times were people had peace with each other and at other moments they seemed not to be able to cope with each-other. At times people had difficulty to survive and had to face thirst and hunger. Sometimes even the same people could find more than enough of it all. Often the might have found abundance, but really did not appreciate it or did not know they had so much, until they had lost it.
All of us probably have seen times of joy but also times of sorrow.
We are just a ball in the game of life, rolling from one side to the other.
How often we do like it to be rolled from one place to the other in case it could bring us something better (we think)? But how often did we not make the wrong choice, did we choose for the wrong party? How many times did we want to blame ourselves when it did not turn out like we had hoped?
In certain religions, people created somebody they could blame for what went wrong. Some like to think on their left shoulder is sitting a bad ‘ghost‘ or ‘devil‘ which lures them in the bad situations. It is that devil which makes them to have bad choices, doing things wrong, having bad or making them cross with others. Is that not easy to blame such a devil?
Like the pendulum of the always ticking clock we are pulled form the right to the left, from the good to the wrong or to the bad, and than there are others who want us to choose. Is that not difficult?
Why do so many people want to make it so complicated whilst life can be less complicated?
When something happened, why do we want to forget it and leave it in the past like it never happened. Why do we not want to take the opportunity to learn from it and to keep it in our mind to remember ourselves how we next time should not do it that way or should not let it turn out like it did previously?
It is impossible to turn back the time. What happened happened. How many times did we give the excuse we needed more time?
Did we ever think that if we would have accepted our own strength and would have shared it more with the other we could have reached much more? How many times did we want to hear the other for the good of us growing and did we want to work together to make everything better without having ourselves in the picture as the one who could make everything better? So often people do not want to hear the voice of an other in their mind, telling them to do what they should do. But when they did something others do not like, they are the first one to tell tit was somebody else his idea, or somebody else’s fault something went wrong.
Lots of people do enjoy it to look at others their mistakes or failings. How many do not like to listen to gossip and rumours and evil insinuations? when we hear people talking around us talking about others, how many do not derive pleasure from the shortcomings of others, especially those who have previously appeared to be models of uprightness or have been in the footlights?
Have you tried to hear the voice which comes over all the din of the market, the buzz of social gossip, the stamping and mirth of the pleasure spots?
How often we feel that wrong is done to us and do we want to have revenge? How many of us when we long to retaliate for wrongs done to us, hear again that calming voice penetrates our hurt and our angry frustration?
We should come to know that vengeance only belongs to the Supreme Being. It is not up to us to take the law into our own hands, for God has allowed the justice system and He will repay. (see Romans 12:19). Anger is a great bungler, and it has well been said that we get at odds when we try to get even.
It Ain’t My Fault (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We can all remember moments in our life where we were angry, with or without reason. Many times in our life we had moments we could not pretend that nothing was happening that we did not like. More than once we got to the point we had to do something to make it better or to change the situations so that we could find a better way to handle or to deal with the situation or person in a non-attached way. We had moments in our life where we had to take care of what needed to be done, responding with patience and understanding, and moving on.
In our life we should come to a point realising we do have to move on. Than we should try to break the habit of a lifetime and should want to try and reinforce a new approach to how we view ourself. How we look at our self and what happened in the past is something we only ourself can change. With time we can slowly try and retrain our thinking to no longer be so hard on ourself.
We have to stop giving others but also ourselves the fault. We have to stop thinking the others are bad but also have to stop thinking we are bad. At times we might have taught we were the reason we were hurt and that it was our fault. When we were ridiculed at school or did fail to get top marks (sometimes finding 9/10 in a test wasn’t good enough and anything less than an A+ was a fail in our parents eyes). How many people are not surrounded in their youth with negativity, blame and ridicule just kept heaping one on top of the other and that made them feel absolutely worthless.
But in the creation of the Most High nobody is worthless. Nobody is guilty for his total life. A person may have stolen bullied, not having told the truth, having sexual and other escapades, it might even be someone may have brought damage to somebody else or even murdered some one, there is hope for that person.
There has been a man in history who made arrangement than any evil person can be pardoned for the atrocities he or she might have done. Every person on this planet has his past, which can be seen as the past that has been but is also gone. We do not have to carry the past with us as a burden or like a ball of plumb hanging at our legs, like by the prisoners in the old times. All chains are broken today by one person to whom we may look up.
Today there are still lots of people who say it is impossible that there could exist a man of flesh and blood who would be willing to swipe over the faults of other people, forgive what they have done, and would not mind taking them in a reign where everybody is considered equal and live together in peace for ever.
But a barrister is provided who works pro-deo. At no cost for us that advocate will take counsel for anybody of the world who is willing to accept him to be his solicitor. He does not charge anything. The only thing he demands is that we recognise his Father and his position and that we would like to try to do the Will of his Father like he only wanted to do the Will of his Father and not his will.
When you are willing to accept that man in your life and understand what he has done for mankind, than you may forget all your previous life and start all over again. With a new slate you may start afresh. Is that not great? Would that not give any hope?
Yes you may forget your past in such circumstance, but you shall have to run away from your past also. That solicitor will require from you that you really want to turn over the page and start anew. He will be a mediator between you and his Father, who he wants that you shall accept also as your Father in heaven. Turning over the page shall require that you run away from your past, let it be what it was, but not without forgetting to learn your lessons from it.
All people should come to see that they are fortunate and that they are saved, valued, loved and accepted for whom they are and for what they have done but even more for what they shall try to do. They all should try to see and find the good persons around them, their family who love them and care for them, and their good friends who support them, and those who are willing to accompany them to better pastures.
Let this be your time also to value yourself and to challenge and change the habit of a lifetime.
+
++
Cant forget those black days you gave to me / those stains aren’t easy to wash off / Which keep me reminding of our dusk / Never can I forget that bitter words which pierced my heart
So I beat them to the punch! Hah! I’d banish myself to my own room (or apartment, as I got older). I’d banish myself to silence.
You can either have a N.I.C.E. (Not Interested in Connecting Emotionally) relationship… where you hide what is true out of fear. Or you can have an alive, real relationship with intimacy, compassion and understanding.
Many people wonder why they live and what the use is of all the troubles they have to endure. Throughout the times many where looking for answers for the reason of their being here on earth and for what they should and could do.
Those who were looking for answers got to know that in the very past there was living an old man who received promises of the One Who is called the Eternal Being and Most High. To the patriarch Abraham this Only One God, Jehovah said:
“(14) And after Lot had separated from him, יהוה {Jehovah} said to Aḇram, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, (15) for all the land which you see I shall give to you and your seed forever. (16) “And I shall make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that, if a man could count the dust of the earth, then your seed also could be counted. (17) “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” (18) So Aḇram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ, which are in Ḥeḇron, and built an altar there to יהוה {Jehovah}.” (Genesis 13:14-18 The Scriptures 1998+)
Title page of the Calov Bible with Bach’s signature on it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
People got to know about the Book of books, the Bible, which many consider the infallible Word of God, given to man so that they could get to know their Creator. One of the most important themes in scripture is the Most High Being and His relation to the creation and the concept of an everlasting kingdom on earth. It is mentioned countless times, from the early words quoted from Genesis through the picture of the New Jerusalem provided in the final pages of our Bibles (Revelation 21:10). It would seem self-evident that for these promises to be completely fulfilled, the heavens and earth themselves must last forever.
Scientists have looked into the future of the heavens and earth with the same keen interest as they have delved into the birth of the universe. Surely the Most High Elohim God could anticipate the findings of science in these latter days and would not leave us without guidance. When the Bible records that His kingdom would be forever we definitely take that to mean without end.
“What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? Is this all there is? What is truth and does it really matter?”
Lots of people ask. Many seem to look at the wrong places for the answers. Some know already where they can find some interesting answers. The answers to all these questions and more are all to be found in one place, our Bible or the Holy Scriptures. In the past it was more common for people to have some awareness of Bible teachings, but nowadays the Bible has been banned in many schools and eliminated from public life in many countries. As a consequence many don’t realize that it is the source of knowledge about the big issues of life, the truths that we all need to know. Our world is suffering from truth decay.
It is not because we know we can find the answer in the Bible that we take the time to look in it. The economical life in the industrialised countries is demanding so much of us that every one of us can get caught up in the busyness of everyday life and forget about the important issues. We can neglect reading the Bible. We can drift away from our beliefs. If we want to know about the best way to live our lives and keep on track, it is so important to read God’s word every day. It is sad that so many, not just in the world, but also in the brotherhood of believers, are not finding time to read their Bibles.
In the Christadelphian Tidings of the Kingdom of God magazine such aspects of our needs and searches is spoken of in the different articles. In the October 2013 article Having Truth Decay? the Christadelphian brother Robert J. Lloyd looks at, the with our free time, interfering situations where we all have a lot of stuff, material goods, that need care, but that we do not seem to find enough time to read the Holy Scriptures. The author points out at the danger of not reading the Bible which skews our understanding of God’s ways and can actually be offensive to God. But we also do have to see that in case those who have found God already, would not find time enough to read God’s Word, how difficult must it be for those who are still searching for God?
David’s son, Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, tells us,
Reflecting God Study Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination,”
which can be interpreted to mean we should not even pray if we do not have time to listen to God.
Have you ever met someone who does all the talking and never lets you get a word in edgewise? Some people are this way with God — they pray all the time but never listen to Him. Their actions speak out that they are not interested in God’s point of view. Solomon’s words imply that God may refuse to listen to us unless we also open His book and listen to Him.
This indicates also that the one who is looking for God does need to give the opportunity to God to come into the picture. The person has to show God that he or she is interested to listen to God and is willing to be interested in God His views, His ideas, His Words. Without giving any thought and time for God His Words it shall be very difficult to find God and to know what God wants for us or has prepared for us.
+
Preceding articles:
Finding God amid all the religious externals
Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God
To be continued:
People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations
People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions
People Seeking for God 4 Biblical terms
People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life
People Seeking for God 6 Strategy
++
+++
I invited two Jehovah’s Witnesses into my home for a chat.
+
I think the Bible is an excellent book filled with valuable lessons and stories aimed at making us better people. I have no use for Church or anything else man-made, because it goes against everything Jesus ever taught the people.
For years I have taken the approach of letting the Bible lead me. When I have pressing concerns I’m more comfortable getting silent, calming down the raging storm, getting into my own head, my own spaceI’ll be seeking His kingdom, / for my daily bread / focusing on the destination / of the glory that lies ahead.
“Every age has its own characteristics.
Right now we are in an age of religious complexity.
The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us.
In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart.
The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and the servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.
If we would find God amid all the religious externals we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity.
Now as always God discovers Himself to `babes’ and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him.
We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few).
We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood.
If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.”
-Tozer, The Pursuit of God
Cover of The Pursuit of God
I can remember being an atheist, or perhaps an agnostic, for in those days I did not think much about God one way or another. I knew at that time there were Christians – and I suppose adherents to other faiths whose adherence I judged “ethnic” and thus not applicable in my own instance. As for Christians, I assumed they came in two sorts – those who went along for a sense of belonging or from a sense of nostalgia, rather like attending a bridge club or square dancing; and evangelicals, who were clearly under-educated and over-excited. I can remember, from my lofty, 21-year-old height of wisdom, thinking that it must be soothing to be one of the latter, all of whose problems in life could be seen to be answered.
+
I could not doubt the reality of that loving presence, and still cannot. I now know that one-off “religious experiences” of this sort are rather frowned upon by the best theologians, among whom Thomas Aquinas, the confessors of Teresa of Avila and Professor Nicholas Lash, as susceptible to mood and delusion, and if I have my life to live over I will try to have a higher class of conversion experience – but this is what happened to me. I was turned around. Converted. Not that I had been the sort of person who kicked old ladies and found myself now helping them across the street. I was much the same person, but facing in a new direction.
+++
“One of the New Atheists named Christopher Hitchens had several quotes that were right on the mark.Here is one of them:
“Name a moral statement or action, uttered or performed by a religious person that could not have been uttered or performed by an unbeliever. I am still waiting for a response to this. It carries an incidental corollary: think of a wicked action or statement that derived directly from religious faith, and you know what? There is no tongue-tied silence at THAT point. Everybody can instantly think of an example.”
But he does not give the readers a possibility to answer. As such he will never get a sound and shall be able to affirm that it kept “tongue-tied silence”.
As A. W. Tozer attempts to explain God’s attribute of infinitude he says, “when you get into God, ‘with Christ in God,’ then you’re on a journey into infinity, into infinitude. There is no limit and no place to stop. There isn’t just one work of grace, or a second work or a third work and then that’s it. There are numberless experiences and spiritual epochs and crises that can take place in your life while you are journeying out into the heart of God in Christ.”
Really, what is the most important thing?” “First,” being in order; not, “What is the very first commandment God gave?” The first commandment was, “Don’t eat the tree in the middle of the garden.” But, first in the order, that is the most important commandment of God. What is it?
And Jesus answered him, The first of all commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord (Mar 12:29):
He goes back to Deuteronomy in what is known as the shima, the hear. It is that portion that the Jews roll up in these little boxes that they tie on their wrists. The boxes that they put on their foreheads; they all have this shima in it. “Hear, O’ Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.”
+
the religious systems are man’s attempt to reach out to God, where Christianity is God’s attempt to reach man. In the religious system, man being good enough to be accepted by God, in Christianity, there’s no way man can be good enough to be accepted by God. He has to just trust in the grace of God. There’s no good work that you can do. It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by His grace alone. So rather than a system of works that can bring you to God, it bypasses all that and says, “There’s nothing you can do to be worthy of God, you can only receive His grace, His love, His mercy that He extends to you through His Son Jesus Christ.” God is reaching you; you can’t reach Him.
In life we often look at the wrong things and are most concerned about futile matters.
Instead of looking at people for what they really are, and not how they dress and show off their wealth; discovering the difference between those who seem to succeed and those who fail. Because often people measure the success of people with their worldly fame and wealth, but they do not know the situation in the family and the social mess which perhaps may exist in the person his private life.We should focus on the spiritual matters and look for the aim and purpose in life. In case we look for nothing in particular, we may find just that and no more, while the Creator God has so much more for us in petto. We just have to come to Him, trust Him and allow Him to direct our lives. Than we will feel the real blessings and shall be able to grow and let others to grow as well.
In our mind we should see the bright side of life, not complaining about lots of things, of a lack of time or opportunity, but making time to do the things we can enjoy and where we do feel good at. Yes, there are so many people out there who have made more out of the odds and little opportunities which many of us carelessly throw away, than others will get out of a whole life-time.
Like bees, they extract honey from every flower. Every person they meet, every circumstance of the day, adds something to their store of useful knowledge or personal power.
+
Read also:
+++
Related articles
- Thankful for Creator GOD (thempactlife.wordpress.com)
Even in the cacophony of life sounds, can you find something to be thankful for?These simple things cause me to extend thanks for my Heavenly Father, Creator GOD. I am grateful for the Creator of you and me. Just like the different colors of the trees, you and I are distinct. You burst forth with color and light. You grow, change, and transform in your seasons. Still like the tree, you stay strong and resilient. Against opposition, trials, and tests, you stand tall, bold, and brave.
- Wealth Is Not About The Money By Bob Proctor (dinarrecaps.com)
One of the key concepts to creating wealth is to understand that money is not the goal. That’s right, I said, money is not the goal.Frequently people will tell me that they want to make money. However, I know it is not money they are really after. It is the things that money can buy and the freedom of time to do what they really want.
While you may think this is an insignificant difference, it is actually the reason so many people never become wealthy.
- {Taking Inventory} (live-brave.com)
One might think that wanting to live for yourself and desiring the most out of your gifts, talents, relationships, community, or job is selfish. I understand that passing thought. Because I was one of those people.- Gratitude (mohammadhaizam.wordpress.com)
gratitude is an intangible element that resides in us, all of us regardless of our own culture, background or religion. This is the only one feelings which if we learn to nurture in ourselves will cause a person to feel Rich beyond comprehension. Gratitude will make you feel enough, and more it caused you to feel great inside. Feeling the gratitude alone will caused you to be happy, therefore will minus all the stress which burden yourself, allowing you to grow which in turn create an opportunity for you to reach almost anything in life…. Among them is richness in Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, Financial, Relationship etc etc.- Bible Conversations Then and Now (conversationinfaith.wordpress.com)
the Bible didn’t drop out of the sky as fully formed timeless truths. The Bible is nearly all story and poetry. God and people figuring out what it means to be in covenant together.
+
The one creator God creates order out of chaos. The one creator God creating a good world. The one creator God caring about the earth and particularly about humans.The one creator God speaks into existence the sun, moon and stars, which others believed to be gods. Genesis, especially chapter 1, is a strong statement of faith. Little, unimportant Israel talks back to larger, more powerful nations and cultures.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. – Ecclesiastes 9:11
‘Time and chance’, what I call opportunity is available to all of us, yet many of us do not take it. We don’t recognize it. We look for it in distant places. We complain of a lack of opportunities where we are, but that is not true because there is opportunity where you are.
Opportunities! Every life is full of them.
Every lesson in school is an opportunity.
Every examination is a chance in life.
Every blog post is an opportunity.
Every client is an opportunity.
Every sermon is an opportunity.
Every business transaction is an opportunity…
View original post 117 more words
Reconciling Science and Religion
“Science and religion [are] no longer seen as incompatible.”—The Daily Telegraph, London, May 26, 1999.
Clerks studying astronomy and geometry. France, early 15th century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Both science and religion, in their noblest forms, involve the search for truth. Science discovers a world of magnificent order, a universe that contains distinctive marks of intelligent design. True religion makes these discoveries meaningful by teaching that the mind of the Creator lies behind the design manifest in the physical world.
“I find my appreciation of science is greatly enriched by religion,”
says Francis Collins, a molecular biologist. He continues:
“When I discover something about the human genome, I experience a sense of awe at the mystery of life, and say to myself, ‘Wow, only God knew before.’ It is a profoundly beautiful and moving sensation, which helps me appreciate God and makes science even more rewarding for me.”
An Enduring Quest
No end is in sight in our quest for answers about the infinite universe, space, and time. Biologist Lewis Thomas noted:
“There will be no end to this process, being the insatiably curious species that we are, exploring, looking around and trying to understand things. We’re not ever going to get it solved. I can’t imagine any terminal point where everyone will breathe a sigh and will say, ‘Now we understand the whole thing.’ It’s going to remain beyond us.”
Similarly, when it comes to religious truth, the reach is boundless. One of the Bible writers, Paul, stated:
“Now we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror . . . My knowledge now is partial.”—1 Corinthians 13:12, The New English Bible.
Partial knowledge concerning both scientific and religious questions, however, does not prevent us from reaching sound conclusions based on the facts we have. We don’t need a detailed knowledge of the origin of the sun in order to be absolutely sure that it is going to rise tomorrow.
Science and Religion are portrayed to be in harmony in the Tiffany window Education (1890). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the quest for answers, we need to be guided by sound principles. Unless we stick to the highest standards of evidence, we can easily be misled in our search for scientific and religious truth. Realistically, none of us can begin to evaluate all scientific knowledge and ideas, which today fill huge libraries. On the other hand, the Bible provides a manageable compendium of spiritual teachings for our consideration. The Bible is well supported by known facts.*
However, concerning knowledge in general, earnest effort is required to distinguish between fact and speculation, between reality and deception—in both science and religion. As the Bible writer Paul advised, we need to reject “the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge.’” (1 Timothy 6:20) To reconcile science and the Bible, we must let the facts speak for themselves, thereby avoiding conjecture and speculation, and examine how each fact supports and adds to the other.
For example, when we understand that the Bible uses the term “day” to represent various periods of time, we see that the account of the six creative days in Genesis need not conflict with the scientific conclusion that the age of the earth is about four and a half billion years. According to the Bible, the earth existed for an unstated period before the creative days began. (See note 2: “The Creative Days—24 Hours Each?”) Even if science corrects itself and suggests a different age for our planet, the statements made in the Bible still hold true. Instead of contradicting the Bible, science in this and many other cases actually provides us with voluminous supplemental information about the physical world, both present and past.
The Bible provides us with knowledge of God and his purposes that cannot be gleaned from any other source. Why should we trust it? The Bible itself invites us to test its accuracy. Consider its historical authenticity, its practicality, the candour of its writers, and its integrity. By investigating the accuracy of the Bible, including statements of a scientific nature and, even more convincingly, the unerring fulfilment of hundreds of prophecies throughout the ages and into our present day, one can acquire firm faith in it as the Word of God. Faith in the Bible is not credulity but a proven confidence in the accuracy of Scriptural statements.
People should as such not look so much for words of people but should look more for Words coming from the Divine Creator Himself. When we do find His Word we should trust in that Word of God. The apostle Paul stated:
“When you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God.”—1 Thessalonians 2:13.
Home bible study with the help of a bible teacher. The yellow book seen in the photo is What Does the Bible Really Teach? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Of course, as with science, damaging falsehoods and practices have infiltrated religion. Thus, there is true religion and false religion. That is why many people have left organized, mainstream religion to become members of other smaller Christian congregations. Those people came to understand it would be better to join those who are not of the majority mainstream Christian churches, but are people who live conform the Biblical truth. Many searchers for truth have been disappointed by the unwillingness of their previous religions to disavow human tradition and myth in favour of discovered or revealed truth. Therefore they found it more appropriate to join the perhaps more hated group of Bible readers and more active Bible Students, because they found it more important to do the Will of God instead of keeping to traditions and popularity.
What is more, true Christians find real meaning and purpose in life, based on an intimate knowledge of the Creator, as he is revealed in the Bible, and of His expressed intentions for humankind and the planet we live on. Those serious Bible Students have been satisfied with reasonable, Bible-based answers to such questions as, Why are we here? Where are we going? They would be more than glad to share these insights with you.
*
1. See The Bible—God’s Word or Man’s? published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
2. The Creative Days—24 Hours Each?
Some fundamentalists claim
that creationism rather than evolution explains pre-human history. They
assert that all physical creation was produced in just six days of 24
hours each sometime between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. But in doing so,
they promote an unscriptural teaching that has caused many to ridicule
the Bible.
Is a day in the Bible always literally 24 hours in length? Genesis 2:4 speaks of “the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.” This one day encompasses all six of the creative days of Genesis chapter 1.
According to Bible usage, a day is a measured period of time and can be
a thousand years or many thousands of years. The Bible’s creative days
allow for thousands of years of time each. Further, the earth was
already in existence before the creative days began. (Genesis 1:1) On this point, therefore, the Bible account is compatible with true science.
8 However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah* as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.+ (2 Peter 3:8).
Commenting on claims that the
creative days were only 24 literal hours in length, molecular biologist
Francis Collins remarks:
“Creationism has done more harm to serious
notions of belief than anything in modern history.”
+
Preceding articles:
Bible containing scientific information
The mythical conflict of science and Scripture (1)
The mythical conflict of science and Scripture (2)
Science and the Bible—Do They Really Contradict Each Other?
Are Science and the Bible Compatible?
Science and Religion Harmonized (Once and For All…)
Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Wetenschap en religie zijn met elkaar te rijmen
++
+++
+++
Stepping Toes 