Studying God's Word

Dinosaurs:

Nonbelievers would like us all to think that the existence of dinosaurs debunks Christianity and proves the theory of evolution but they are mistaken. Believers don’t deny that dinosaurs once roamed the earth; it’s just a matter of when they did. Most believers just don’t think the dinosaurs became extinct sixty million years ago and well before man arrived on the earth. Those of us with a literal interpretation of the Bible understand that God created the universe, man and the dinosaurs 6000 years ago. As Christian believers we also agree that the original Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) does mention dinosaurs, though it never actually uses the word “dinosaur.” Instead, it uses the Hebrew word “tanniyn”, which is translated a few different ways in our English Bibles. Sometimes it’s “sea monster,” and sometimes it’s “serpent.” Today tanniyn is most commonly translated as “dragon.” The Bible describes a couple of creatures is such a way that some scholars believe the writers may have been describing dinosaurs.

Job 40:15-16 – Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles.

Job 40:17-18 – He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs are like bars of iron.

The tanniyn appears to have been some sort of giant reptile and the mightiest of all God’s creatures; a giant whose tail is likened to a cedar tree. Some scholars have tried to identify the behemoth as either an elephant or a hippopotamus. Others point out that elephants and hippos have very thin tails, nothing comparable to a cedar tree. Dinosaurs like the brachiosaurus and diplodocus, on the other hand, had huge tails which could easily be compared to a cedar tree. The word “Leviathan” appears five times in the Old Testament, referring to a large sea creature we know to be a dinosaur. These tanniyn are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament and were found both on land and in the water. We know them all today, collectively, as dinosaurs.

Job 41:1 – Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

Isaiah 27:1 – In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

The Leviathan was a large aquatic creature of some kind. The Bible refers to it as a fearsome beast having monstrous ferocity and great power. The Hebrew word for “Leviathan” has the root meaning of “coiled” or “twisted.” In Job chapter 41, God goes to great length to describe the size, strength and viciousness of Leviathan. God’s description of the leviathan concludes with a statement that it is the true king of beasts: “Nothing on earth is its equal-a creature without fear.” Based on the biblical description, it seems likely the leviathan is a large sea reptile, possibly a species of dinosaur such as the plesiosaurus. If God said he made leviathan and behemoth then, by extension, God must have made all the species of dinosaurs; and at the same time that he made the universe and us. Job’s acquaintance with a dinosaur is not far-fetched at all, given the book of Job is set in a very early time of history.

Psalm 104:25-26 – This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great. There the ships sail about; there is that Leviathan which you have made to play there.

Job 41:11 – Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? everything under heaven is Mine.

Nearly every ancient civilization has some sort of art depicting giant reptilian creatures. Petroglyphs, artifacts, and even little clay figurines found in North America resemble modern depictions of dinosaurs. Rock carvings in South America depict men riding diplodocus-like creatures and, amazingly, bear the familiar images of triceratops-like, and tyrannosaurus rex-like creatures. Roman, Mayan and Babylonian history makes reference to dinosaur-like creatures. This can’t be all a coincidence. There are fossilized footprints of humans and dinosaurs found together at places in North America and West-Central Asia. Humanists would have us believe a giant meteor struck the earth 60 million years ago and wiped out all the dinosaurs. They also claim that a small cat-sized mammal survived the meteor strike and that man evolved from that small creature. Give me a break! That is total speculation without a shred of evidence!

Colossians 1:16-17 – For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Romans 11:36 – For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Job 9:8 – He (God) alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.

If you’re a believer who interprets the Bible literally then you will have a young earth interpretation because God says he made the universe and man 6000 years ago over a span of six 24 hour days before resting on the seventh day. God always speaks the truth plainly. If you accept this truth of God then you must also believe man and dinosaurs coexisted at the same time in history past; which adequately explains the presence of dinosaur fossils. The question then becomes, what happened to the dinosaurs and when did it happen? Dinosaurs may or may not have been on Noah’s Ark but most scholars now believe God did save the dinosaurs from the flood. It doesn’t really matter.

What is important is accepting the fact that dinosaurs were created by God 6000 years ago. Dinosaurs could have easily fitted on the ark because the average dinosaur was about the size of a horse and for the larger dinosaurs only small juveniles would have been taken on the ark; similar to what we said happened with elephants, rhinos and hippos. While the Bible doesn’t discuss the issue, it’s likely the dinosaurs died out sometime after the flood due to a combination of the dramatic environmental shifts that occurred after the flood and the fact that they were relentlessly hunted to extinction by man.

Psalm 8:3-4 – When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?

Job 26:7 – He (the Lord) stretches out the north over empty space, He hangs the earth on nothing.

Proverbs 16:4 – The Lord has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.

The theory of dinosaurs is like the theory of evolution; they both sound good but they have no evidence to back them up. If the humanists had hard evidence to prove their theories we’d have heard about it by now. Humanists would like nothing better than to disprove the Bible story of creation and debunk Christianity as a religion altogether; but that’s simply not the case. They’ve been trying for 2000 years to find errors in the Bible and haven’t succeeded yet. The Bible is still the inerrant word of God. Praise the Lord! Humanists vehemently deny the existence of a supernatural God that is above man. They see man himself as a god. These humanist point to all these dinosaur fossils buried in the ground as proof that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. They deny the great flood ever happened and disregard any potential aftermath but the truth is self-evident.

During the great flood of Noah’s time many millions of tons of sediment would have been stirred up all over the earth. All the dead plants and animals of the earth would have slowly settled to the bottom of the seas first, and then all the sediment would have slowly settled on top of them. We’re talking millions of tons of dirt and organic debris eventually compacting to create a soft stratum (or layers of rock) on the surface of the earth. The organic debris decayed to form oil deposits. Think about this. All life, both plant and animal, are carbon-based life forms. When living tissue dies it decays back into its basic carbon compounds. Oil deposits prove that a whole lot of living things, both plant and animal, died all at one time and was deposited together in one place and was sealed off by a layer of sediment. The only plausible explanation for these occurrences is the great flood of Noah’s time.

Of course you’re going to find fossils buried in the ground because they don’t easily decay. The presence of fossils do not disprove the Bible. On the contrary, Fossil remains confirm the Bible account of Noah and the great flood. Sometimes these fossils were found deep in the ground and sometimes near the surface of the earth but that has no correlation to the age of the fossils. Digging through these so called “geologic zones” is the number one way paleontologists date dinosaur fossils and the deeper they are found the older they claim the fossils to be. It’s not accurate.

Zechariah 12:1 – The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

Genesis 2:7 – And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Paleontologists are of course all atheists that accept the theory of evolution and that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be in their line of work. They interpret the age of fossil records based on that worldview. They make their data fit their menta; paradigm. The other major fossil dating method frequently used is through potassium-argon radiometric dating (K-Ar). This is a tricky method of determining how much of these two elements remain in the samples tested. The problem is this test has proven unreliable in the past. For example, living animals have been tested and the test said they were 300,000 plus years old. A ten year old lava flow from Mount St. Helens was dated 340,000 years old. The list goes on. There is no accurate way to date dinosaur fossils.

Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Isaiah 44:24 – Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself.

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God is the author of all truth, knowledge and true science. It was God who established all the physical laws of the universe. When fallible science does not correspond to fallible theology, we cannot blame the Bible. The scientific assumptions may be wrong, or the biblical interpretations may be wrong, or both-but the Scriptures never are. Scripture may be misinterpreted, but it will never be wrong. Another unfortunate tendency in modern atheism is to compare science to a single interpretation in the Bible, then declare that science has “proved” the Bible incorrect. This of course is illogical. At the most, all that might be disproved is that particular interpretation of Scripture. God usually states important spiritual truths multiple times throughout the Bible so it’s a good practice to always use Scripture to interpret Scripture if you can. Never base a Bible interpretation on a single vague Scripture taken out of context as nonbelievers are prone to do.

Psalm 53:1 – The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.

The fields of paleontology and fossilology are highly prone to error when dating fossil records. In the last century, we have witnessed countless examples of “groundbreaking” discoveries that have ultimately been proven to be misleading. One famous example is the coelacanth. Declared to have been extinct for about 70 million years, this fish was thought by scientists to have been among the first to walk out of the ocean on its way to becoming the ascendant of modern man. There was great excitement and surprise in the scientific community when a fisherman caught a living coelacanth off the island of Madagascar in 1938. Many evolutionists believed the reason this fish disappeared from the fossil record is that it had evolved into land-dwelling tetrapods.

Hebrews 12:28-29 – Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Luke 1:37 – For with God nothing will be impossible.

The reason this is important is that many fossils have been dated to be roughly 70 million years old mostly because their remains were found in the same geological stratum as remains of the coelacanth. And yet there are coelacanths alive today that look exactly like those fossils-so use of coelacanth fossils to date other fossils, as it turns out, isn’t all that accurate. A fossil record is simply a catalog of when the death of a living plant or animal occurred. Fossil records don’t confirm the theory of evolution as the humanists claim. They prove just the opposite. The deposition of fossil records corresponds with the biblical account of the great flood and prove that a young earth is 6000 years old. The fact that there are vast sedimentary deposits all over the world confirms the great flood destroyed all plants and animals at the same and caused them to be deposited on the sea beds and then were covered over with sediment. It’s just common sense that the fossilization process must have occurred at the same time in our past. It must have begun after Adam’s sin introduced death and decay into our world. No other explanation fits the data.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Know that nonbelievers will confront us and attack Christianity. God calls them fools. They believe in their baseless theories on evolution and the age of dinosaurs without any supporting facts. Nonbelievers and some weak-minded believers tend to home in on the areas they consider the weak points of our faith, namely Noah’s Ark, Jonah and dinosaurs. Humanists took over the world’s education system in the world long ago so they could indoctrinate us with their lies and baseless theories of evolution and dinosaurs to the point where most people believe the lies. Humanists have brainwashed the masses and would have us believe that man evolved from one cell organisms in the primordial ooze of the distant past into modern man consisting of thirty trillion cells that arranged into specialized tissues, organs and body systems all by themselves, complete with a brain that is the greatest super computer in the universe. Their conclusion cannot be supported by the facts.

1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.

Are you gullible enough to believe such a tall tale? I’m certainly not. Humanists must also convince us the earth is millions of years old to allow the necessary time for evolution to take place. The theory of the dinosaurs is just another lie backing up the first lie. Some lukewarm believers who are weak-minded and not strong in their faith have also fallen for these lies and started to doubt the absolute truth of the Bible, which is Satan’s plan. Once you start doubting the Bible you’re on the slippery slope that leads to doubting God and eventually losing your faith altogether. To prevent that we need to study God’s word so we know the truth of God. In this blog series I have tried to provide a defense for the three most common attacks against Christianity that you will hear from nonbelievers, which is Noah’s Ark, Jonah and dinosaurs.

Gird yourself for the battle that will surely come! Nonbelievers and doubters have no original thoughts of their own. They are just repeating what they’ve heard or what they’ve been told. They don’t know any better because they haven’t actually studied God’s word to find out the truth of God. If they did they would be resolute believers. They are just too lazy to search out the truth of God for themselves. God calls them fools. Try your best to educate the nonbelievers and lukewarm Christians. We owe it to Jesus to fulfill the “Great Commission” as best we can, with firmness and gentleness. It’s our reasonable service to the God who made us.

The prophet Jonah:

Jonah was one of the minor prophets of God. The book of Jonah was written around 780 BC, probably by the prophet himself. The book of Jonah recounts the incredible story of a disobedient prophet who was punished by God by having him swallowed by a great fish (whale) for three days and nights until he repented and agreed to preach repentance to the Ninevites as God had commanded. Jonah was promptly vomited upon the shore. Jonah then preached in Nineveh causing the city to repent of their sins which caused God not to destroy the city as he had planned to do. The miraculous content of the story of Jonah is denied by nonbelieving skeptics who don’t believe in God, miracles or Jonah.

2 Kings 2:23-24 – Then he (the prophet Elisha) went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled (killed) forty-two of the youths.

Jonah 1:17 – Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Matthew 19:26 – But with God all things are possible.

For believers with spiritual discernment the story of Jonah is biblical history as told by God himself to holy men, one of which was Jonah, who wrote down the story as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. For “lukewarm” believers who don’t believe every word in the Bible as written, the story of Jonah is considered to be a parable meant to convey the theological point that God also cares about Gentiles. Nineveh was the largest city in the world at that time with 120,000 people and the capital of the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians were a cruel, evil and warlike people who Jonah hated. When God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach repentance to the city Jonah instead ran away from God and tried to hide so he wouldn’t have to preach salvation to those evil people. God cares more about sinners than we do. This story confirms that God loves everyone equally and he wants salvation unto eternal life in heaven for all his children. God wants all of us in his presence forever.

2 Kings 14:25 – He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.

1 Kings 20:36 – Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.

Romans 14:12 – So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

So, is the Jonah account historical, a parable or a fake? Apart from the biblical account, there’s no conclusive historical proof that Jonah was ever swallowed by a fish and lived to tell about it. With Jonah we can’t see the obvious tracks of God like we can with Noah’s Ark so we have to base our decision on the circumstantial evidence that’s available and the credibility of God’s testimony on one hand and that of Satan and evil men on the other. Nonbelievers say there was no such person as Jonah and that Nineveh never existed. The Bible books of Jonah and Nahum are both about God’s judgment of the people of Nineveh for their sins before God. To deny the existence of Nineveh is to deny that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and to call God a liar to his face. Nonbelievers also declare that even Nineveh did exist there’s no way that the city could have been as large as God said it was through the prophet Jonah.

1 Corinthians 3:19 – For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness.”

1 Corinthians 2:14 – But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Jonah was a real historical figure and prophet of God as mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, and reiterated by Flavius Josephus in his history of Israel titled, “Antiquities of the Jews.” The book of Jonah is also a part of the collection of twelve minor prophets contained in the Old Testament that are meant to convey prophecies by genuine historical prophets and, as such, the book of Jonah was considered to be a historical account by the compilers of the Old Testament. A Babylonian priest and historian named Berosus in the third century BC wrote of a mythical creature named Oannes who emerged from the sea to give divine wisdom to man. Oannes is Assyrian for the name “Jonah”. Most myths are based on some historical fact so is it possible Berosus was writing about the real live event of Jonah being vomited upon the shores of Phoenicia? We’ll never know for sure but the similarity between the two stories is striking. In the New Testament Jesus confirms the story of Jonah when he speaks of Jonah being a sign to the Ninevites. This could be a reference to Jonah being vomited from a great fish in front of witnesses who took it as sign from their fish god Dagon that they needed to repent of their sins before God.

Matthew 17: 27 – (Jesus to Peter about paying the temple tax) – Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go out to sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.

Proverbs 5:21 – For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths.

1 Kings 17:4 – (God speaking to Elijah) – And it shall be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.

The lost city of Nineveh was discovered in the mid-1800s after more than 2500 years of obscurity, which vindicated the biblical account. Nineveh was found buried in the vicinity of Mosul, in modern-day Iraq, and was confirmed to be a very large city as God said it was. Nineveh was discovered buried beneath a pair of tells (mounds) known by the local name of Nabi Tunus which in Arabic means, “the prophet Jonah.” Sometimes I’ve wondered how Jonah managed to preach repentance only one day in Nineveh and yet he managed to get every single person in that evil city to repent; from the king down to the beggar on the street. Let’s face it, nobody’s preaching is that good! The residents must have seen a miracle.

Matthew 12:39-41 – (Jesus speaking) – An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

Jonah 2:10 – So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Galatians 6:8 – For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Follow my logic here. The Assyrians worshipped the god Dagon, who was part man and part fish. Jonah was vomited on the shore of Phoenicia from the belly of a whale in front of witnesses. Because of the digestive juices in the whale’s stomach Jonah’s skin and hair were probably bleached white. Given the piscine nature of Jonah’s arrival and his strange appearance the people of Nineveh recognized that Jonah was a sign from God and they all immediately repented of their sins. How could they not do it? It’s the only logical explanation I can think of for 100% of an evil and sin-filled population to repent of their sins.

Some great event had to have occurred for the whole population to repent like that in a single day. It’s like what happened when the meek disciples all became lion’s of the faith when they saw the risen Christ ascend into the clouds and returned to heaven. It’s like what happened to Paul, the greatest enemy of Christians, when he met Jesus Christ on the Damascus road and was subsequently transformed into the greatest Christian who ever lived. Whenever anyone observes a miracle of God, or hears about it from reliable witnesses, then, and only then, is it possible to have such a dramatic turnaround; to have immediate buy-in with God from everyone involved and their total repentance. Meeting God face to face will do that to you.

Biblically speaking, a “sign” is a miracle of God given to a targeted audience for a specific reason. God never gives signs just to show off. In Matthew 12:39, Jesus revealed that the Ninevites had received a sign from God. Now just having the prophet Jonah show up and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, in itself, isn’t a sign from God. Where’s the miracle in that? The sign from God to the Ninevites, the miracle of God, was having a whale vomit Jonah, the prophet of God, from its stomach onto a beach in Phoenicia in front of a group of startled witnesses. It was this miraculous sign from God to the evil people of Nineveh that caused the whole population of that city to repent of their sins against God and cover themselves with sackcloth and ashes. This was decreed by the king to all the people of Nineveh because they accepted the sign of Jonah as a miracle of God intended just for them.

Psalm 139:7 – Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Numbers 22:28 – Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man does, that he will also reap.

The miracles in Jonah are not impossible for God. God controls nature as we’ve seen time after time in the Bible. It’s easy for God to whip up a storm or calm the sea. God is the author of life so he can make any creature, including man, do his bidding. Only two marine animals are known to prowl the Mediterranean Sea and are also large enough to swallow a man; a Great White shark and a Sperm whale. Anyone swallowed by a shark would be cut to shreds by their razor sharp teeth. A Sperm whale, on the other hand, has no teeth so obviously Jonah was swallowed by a whale and not a shark. A person swallowed by a whale would naturally die from a lack of oxygen or from the digestive acid in the whale’s stomach unless they received God’s supernatural protection; which is what happened to Jonah. God could have just as easily brought a person back to life who died in that situation. This is child’s play for the God who created the universe and all life.

We see repeatedly in the Bible that God controls nature. God summoned the storm in the book of Jonah and dissipated it when Jonah was thrown into the sea. If God can call up lions and bears to kill people he can surely direct a whale to be on station to swallow Jonah and then spit him out again when commanded by God. Is the story of Jonah incredible? Yes it is. Is the story of Jonah physically possible? Yes it is. Is there corroborating physical evidence that confirms the biblical account of Jonah being swallowed by a whale? No there isn’t. Is there any eyewitness testimony confirming the story of Jonah? Yes there is. Is the story of Jonah a certainty? Yes it is; if you believe in the one true God of creation who cannot lie and does all he pleases.

1 Kings 21:13 – And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died.

2 Corinthians 13:1 – By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

In Old Testament times there were no written languages so everyone operated by rote memory and their local verbal traditions. The truth of any matter in those days was always established by the personal testimony of two or three witnesses and this is well documented in the Scriptures. For example, if someone was alleged to have blasphemed against God they could not be stoned to death unless there was corroborating testimony by at least one other person (i.e. 1 Kings 21:13 – the story of Naboth’s vineyard). In the case of Jonah being swallowed by a whale we have no personal testimonies refuting this biblical story.

Luke 11:29-30 – (Jesus speaking) – And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He (Jesus) began to say. “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

Daniel 6:22 – (Daniel speaking to King Darius) – My God has sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouth, so that they have not hurt me.

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

On the other hand, we have the testimony affirming the truth of this story from God himself who spoke to Jonah and directed his actions. We have the testimony of Jonah. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit, who wrote the Old Testament book of Jonah through the prophet. In Matthew 12:40-41, we have the testimony of Jesus Christ confirming the Old Testament account of Jonah being in the belly of a big fish for three days and three nights. Every divine person of the triune Godhead testified that the account of Jonah was true. If you, in your foolishness and pride, call God a liar then the wrath of God will be upon you. You will reap what you have sown. You will reap the whirlwind of your destruction.

Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Psalm 18:30 – As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven.

Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.

It all boils down to one thing. Who you want to believe. You can believe God who is truth and who cannot lie. Or you can choose to believe Satan who is a liar and the father of lies. Satan has been lying to man from the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, and he continues to lie to us to this day. In fact, Satan is incapable of speaking the truth at all. He is just the opposite of God in every respect. Don’t believe evil men (nonbelievers) either because Satan has put blinders on them, making them all pawns of the devil. The only one you can count on in this world who will never let you down is Almighty God, because he is always faithful and true. We have the testimony of God himself that Jonah was swallowed by a big fish. Do you want to believe God or Satan? Choose rightly because your eternal destiny depends on it.

John 8:44 – (Jesus speaking) – You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Matthew 10:28 – (Jesus speaking) – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 1:37 – For with God nothing will be impossible.

NOAH’S ARK:

One day God will burn up this earth and our universe with fire and he’ll replace it with a new earth and a new heaven. But the word of God, which is our Holy Bible, will not perish. The word of God will endure on earth and in heaven forevermore. Every single word in the Bible, every punctuation mark, is there for a reason, sometimes known only to God. The Bible is the truth of God and it contains his covenant promises. The eyes of God roam to and fro across the earth to fulfill his promises because the Lord our God cannot lie and he also does not make any mistakes. In the book of Revelation, chapter 22, in verses 18 and 19, God gives us an ominous warning of impending doom for anyone who dares to add or detract from his word in any way, shape or form. God is speaking in the above verses specifically about the book of Revelation but, by association, we can assume God will also do the same thing to anyone who adds or detracts from any of the other 65 books of the Bible because they’re all equally the word of God.

Revelation 22:18-19 – For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Hebrews 11:7 – By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith, and not by sight.

Even if you’re a believer who thinks God is only referring to the book of Revelation with this warning you can’t deny that God simply does not like it when someone alters the content and meaning of his word by adding words, removing words or by twisting or disbelieving the words that God has written. For a believer to not believe every word in the Bible is like slapping God in the face. It’s like spitting in God’s face. It’s like calling God a liar to his face. A believer who does not believe every word in the Bible, as it is written, cannot please God. The primary goal of every believer is to please the God who made us. It’s as simple as that. Even if a lukewarm believer doesn’t receive all the plagues mentioned in Revelation it’s just common sense to expect that the Lord will punish the disobedient in some way for doubting God. The Scriptures confirm that believers who do not please God will have their works burned up by fire when they stand before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ on the last day.

Genesis 7:11-12 – In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

Matthrew 24:37-39 – (Jesus speaking) – But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be.

1 Peter 1:25 – But the word of the Lord endures forever.

In the book of Genesis God goes to great lengths to explain how he created the earth, the universe, and man. God uses four whole chapters, Genesis 6-9, to explain to us how he destroyed all flesh that he had created with a great flood because of man’s great sin. The flood covered the whole earth. God saved only Noah, his family, and selected animals in an ark so man could start over on the earth. Noah’s Ark is such an incredible story that nonbelievers are incredulous. That’s to be expected because nonbelievers have no spiritual discernment. Unfortunately, many believers also don’t believe that the story of Noah’s Ark happened as it is written in the Bible. They think God is laying it on a bit thick or lying altogether.

Please listen carefully to me. God speaks the plain truth and nothing but the truth. It’s who God is and what God does. God doesn’t change and God doesn’t lie. If believers don’t know that by now then they don’t know God. Believers who don’t believe in the story of Noah’s Ark are wise in their own eyes. They think they know better than God or that they can interpret what God means. The Scriptures says we’re to walk be faith and not by sight so we need to start living it. Scripture also says we’re to trust in what the Lord says and we’re not to lean on our own understanding. Nonbelievers and believers who do not believe every word that God says are fools in the eyes of God. The truth of God is spiritually discerned by the believer and the revelation of God is self-evident to all believers who are in true fellowship with Christ.

Genesis 7:23-24 – So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed (covered) on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Luke 17:26-27 – (Jesus speaking) – And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

In the book of Genesis God gives us a brief summary of his salvation plan for man without going into great detail. For nonbelievers, and some believers, who cannot accept the plain truth of God as it’s written, it’s up to them to study God’s word and do their own due diligence so that they can believe what God says is the truth. The Bible is the inerrant word of God and all the evidence you need to prove it is right there in the word of God. All you need to do is study the Bible for knowledge, understanding and wisdom and you will learn the plain truth of God. God encourages man to taste him to see that he is good and true so why not take God up on his offer instead of believing the lies of Satan and evil men? The onus is not on God to make us believe. The onus is on us to believe by seeking the truth of God’s word for ourselves. Those who profess their doubts about the story of Noah’s Ark are showing their profound ignorance, foolishness and faithlessness before the Lord of creation, all the host of heaven, and righteous believers on the earth who know the truth. All believers should be prepared to educate those who deny any part of the story of Noah’s Ark.

Isaiah 54:9 – For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

Genesis 6:18-19 – But I will establish My covenant with you (Noah); and you shall go into the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Psalm 18:30 – As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven.

First of all, what is an ark? The word “ark” is an Old Testament term for a boat. In those days there were no ocean-going vessels and all boats were small and never moved out of the sight of land. Noah’s Ark was the first ocean-going vessel ever built and was by far the largest ship ever constructed at that time. When God instructed Noah to build the ark he gave the measurements in cubits. There were four types of cubits in those days so the length given to Noah was anywhere from 18″ to 22″ long. That means the ark was between 450 ft. and 510 ft. long; about one and a half football fields in length. The ark was 75 ft. to 91 ft. wide; a little more than half the width of a football field. The ark was 41 ft. to 45 ft. high; about the height of a four story building.

Now imagine three levels, or decks, within the ark. We’re talking about 1.5 million cubic feet of total space; which is equal to the capacity of 570 standard railroad stock cars. It took Noah and his three sons more than 120 years to build the ark. I’m sure Noah employed many contract laborers on the ark and of course God was the paymaster. So when the Bible talks about Noah’s Ark don’t dismiss it as some little wooden boat. This was one of the greatest construction projects in the history of the world up to that point in time. Let your mind’s eye envision a massive ocean container ship, oil tanker or grain ship and you have some idea of the monumental size of Noah’s Ark and the tremendous effort it took to build it.

1 Peter 3:18-20 – For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

Matthew 19:26 – (Jesus speaking) – But with God all things are possible.

2 Peter 2:4-5 – For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

The next thing to take note of in Genesis is that God took two of every “kind” of animal on the earth, not necessarily every species. God took what he wanted to take and left the rest. I feel confident feel God didn’t take every kind of animal on earth but it doesn’t really matter one way or the other. Dinosaurs, for example, existed before the flood and God may have left them off the ark. Either way, it goes without saying that God probably took only juvenile animals to save on food as well as space in the ark. Let’s take elephants for example. Why would God put a bull elephant on the ark weighing several tons when a juvenile male elephant one tenth the size of an adult would accomplish his purpose just as well?

You get the picture. God doesn’t tell us everything he knows; just what we need to know. God drew all the animals to the ark himself and they came calmly and in an orderly fashion. I’ve no doubt that once the animals entered the ark they went into some sort of deep sleep much like a bear goes into hibernation during the winter. Never lose sight of the fact that God knows how to do everything and God can do anything he wants to do because with the Lord our God nothing is impossible . Instead of doubting God start accepting God at his word and then seek to find out how God accomplished his will if you have any questions.

2 Peter 3:5-6 – For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished; being flooded with water.

1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

God himself shut the door on Noah’s Ark before the rain started. We know it rained for forty days and nights and that the water on the earth ended up about twenty feet higher than the top of the highest mountain on earth. Detractors say there’s no way there could be that much water on earth. God explains in Genesis 7:11, that he broke up the fountains of the great deep. Scientists now know that there is a tremendous amount of water trapped in the earth’s crust so God simply brought all that water to the surface in order to flood the earth. Scripture also confirms that there are fresh water volcanoes in the bottom of the oceans pouring millions of gallons of water into our oceans.

Noah’s ark floated for roughly ten months before it finally ran aground on Mt. Ararat, in modern day Turkey. The physics students at the University of Leicester in England decided to test if Noah’s Ark could actually have floated with two of each animal on earth at that time. The students were shocked by their findings. They found that Noah’s Ark could have easily handled all the kinds of animals God said he put on the ark. We should never ever doubt the word of God. God always speaks the plain truth. God cannot lie. God always does as he pleases.

Psalm 14:1 – The fool has said in his heart, that there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abdominal works, there is none who does good.

Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.

Psalm 33:11 – The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.

When the topic of Noah’s Ark comes up be ready to defend the word of God with the facts I’ve just provided. In fact, I bring up Noah’s Ark as one of the proofs of God. Ocean-going vessels are required to meet certain engineering specifications in order to be seaworthy. If they’re not built right they’ll sink in rough seas. Man has only known about this for the last 150 years or so as we’ve begun to built these massive ships. It just so happens that the dimensions God gave Noah for building the ark meet those necessary construction specifications perfectly. God has established every physical law in the universe and God knows everything there is to know about his creation. One other thing; when you build a vessel out of wood you can only build it up to a certain size. If you build it any larger the vessel will fail structurally. It just so happens that Noah’s Ark was at the very upper limit of what is possible for a vessel made of wood. This fact further emphasizes that the construction of Noah’s Ark was God’s doing and that God guided the ark safely through the flood.

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The story of Noah’s Ark and the great flood is one of the central themes of the Bible and the story is mentioned in several other books in the Bible. God originally told the story of Noah and the great flood to Moses, who recorded it in the book of Genesis. The prophet Isaiah also mentions Noah and the great flood as does the Apostle Peter. The teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke also include a reference to Noah and the great flood. Anyone who denies the Bible story of Noah’s Ark is calling Moses, Isaiah, Peter and Jesus Christ himself all to be liars. Jesus Christ cannot lie because he is God. Those who deny the story of Noah and the great flood are rejecting the Lord who made them. Woe unto them when they stand before God on the last day to be judged.

When a new believer accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior it’s only the beginning of their walk with God. We all begin our spiritual journey on the spiritual milk of God’s word but we must constantly move forward in our walk with God or in all likelihood we’ll start to doubt our faith and end up becoming backsliders. The Bible refers to it as a “falling away” from the faith. The Bible assures us that in the end times many of the elect will “fall away” from God. Our task is to make sure our faith is rock solid and we’re not influence by, or in the company of, those destined to “fall away” from God. A new believer must grow in the faith by moving on to the spiritual meat of God’s word so their faith can never be doubted or shaken when persecution and hard times come; and they will come.

Psalm 33:11 – The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile).

Psalm 18:46 – The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

2 Timothy 3:1 – But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.

How can a believer become a resolute Christian? A committed Christian should maintain their fellowship with God by reading their Bibles daily. Christians should study God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom on a regular basis. Lastly, Christians should pray to God at least daily. Praying is talking to God, which we’re commanded to do and which we must do to stay in fellowship with God the Father. In fact, believers should be praying to God all throughout the day and in every circumstance. There’s no such thing as praying to God to much but there is such a thing as praying to God too little. The Bible tells us to pray to God continually because God wants to hear from us about anything and everything that concerns us. We’re God’s children and he is always there for us 24/7.

Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.

2 Peter 3:18 – But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Isaiah 33:6 – Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith, not by sight.

If you believe in God and that his son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to die on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins before rising from the dead and ascending back to heaven then you have eternal life in heaven because you have believed in this gospel message. The Bible is the inerrant word of God. The Bible is the truth of God. That means every story in the Bible is true, and either has happened already or will happen in the future. If you believe in God and Jesus but don’t believe every story in the Bible as written then you’re calling God a liar to his face because God wrote the Bible and God cannot lie. You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe in God’s word. God speaks the truth plainly and if you don’t believe him you’re what God calls a “lukewarm” Christian and God says he will spew you out of his mouth. If you’re a believer you still have your salvation but calling God a liar means your works before Jesus will be burned up by fire on the last day.

Deuteronomy 8:3 – Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Pslam 18:30 – As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 19:7 – The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Ephesians 3:11-12 – According to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

The Apostle Peter admitted that some teachings are hard to understand yet as believers we’re to walk by faith and not by sight. God wants believers who are all-in; who believe every word of the Bible and not believers who pick and choose what they want to believe. As Christians, know what you believe to be the truth of God and why you believe it. That comes by studying the evidence in God’s word, which is irrefutable. When talking to most nonbelievers about my faith I can usually count on them saying the same thing. They all read from the same hymn book. Nonbelievers think there’s no God because they don’t believe Jonah was swallowed by a whale. They also don’t believe the story of the flood and all the animals fitting inside Noah’s ark. And last of all, nonbelievers have bought into the humanist lie that dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago therefore the Bible couldn’t be true because God’s word reveals that creation was only 6,000 years ago.

2 Peter 15-16 – And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation – as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things which are hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

2 Peter 1:20 – Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 2:1-2 – But there were false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 – Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.

If Satan can convince people the Bible has errors in it then, by extension, it cannot be the word of a perfect God who is incapable of lies or making mistakes. It’s all part of Satan’s plan to hide the truth of God from man to ensure their eternal damnation in the fires of hell alongside him. We can all agree on one thing; if the Bible isn’t error free then God doesn’t exist. Thankfully, there is overwhelming evidence that God exists and that the Bible is indeed the word of God! The nonbeliever bases his conclusions on false assumptions without looking at the hard evidence for God. Sadly, I also hear these same arguments from some believers. These are the so called “lukewarm” Christians who will be the ones who will “fall away” from the Christian faith in the last days according to the Scriptures. The important thing is to study God’s word so that we can identify false teachings for ourselves so we’re not fooled by what someone tells us is true. Study God’s word so that we know the truth of God when we hear it, read it or see it. We need to be firm in our convictions so no one can fool us with their lies.

Psalm 53:1 – The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

1 Corinthians 3:19 – For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness.”

Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

You know, it’s a funny thing. You can have a believer who is wise in his own eyes who will accept 95% of the Bible as true yet he can’t accept that the remaining 5% of the Bible is the truth of God. I find that odd. With the Bible it’s all or nothing. Believe all of it or believe none of it. The choice is yours. What you can’t do is cherry-pick which parts of the Bible you want to believe and decide which stories in the Bible you don’t think really happened. The wrath of God will be upon your shoulders if you call him a liar. The fact that over 500 Bible prophecies have been fulfilled should be convincing by itself. The fact that over 60 Bible prophecies about the coming Messiah were fulfilled by the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ should cause any rational human being to accept the entire Bible as God’s word, as it is written. Statistically speaking, the odds of there being no God is zero. The odds of the Bible not being God’s word is also zero. Both God and the Bible have been proven irrefutably. Scholars have been trying to find errors in the Bible for 2000 years but they have all been unsuccessful. The more we investigate God’s word the more it is confirmed as the truth of God without any errors in it.

Psalm 68:11 – The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those who proclaimed it.

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:97-98 – Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Why is it some believers think they are wiser than the experts? God refers to those who don’t believe his word as fools. Instead of the massive amount of irrefutable evidence in the Bible (95%) causing the believer to believe the entire word of God by faith the lukewarm believer allows the 5% of the Bible that is hard to understand, which may not have irrefutable proof, to cause him to doubt the word of God in its entirety. It’s like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Where is the common sense? Besides calling God a liar to his face, once a believer starts to doubt God their faith cannot stand firm during tribulation. Satan caused Eve to doubt God and look where that has led us. How can anyone trust in their salvation if they lose their belief that God’s word is true and without errors? They can’t. That’s the lie that Satan sells to nonbelievers and lukewarm Christians of all ages. If you’re a lukewarm believer rest assured that all of your works will burn with fire before Jesus Christ on the last day.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

Jeremiah 17:7 – Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Romans 5:1 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes you can get a better understanding of the definition of a word if you look at a word than means the exact opposite. Take the word “bless” for example. The exact opposite of bless is “curse.” In the dictionary “curse” is defined as “an appeal to a supernatural power to harm someone or something.” “Bless” is “an appeal to a supernatural power to favor or protect someone or something.” God is the only supernatural power who does good; who dispenses his favor and protection. This is confirmed in the Scriptures. God is in complete control of his creation so he can also dispense curses where sin is involved. On the flip side, the other supernatural power (Satan) can dispense only evil. One of the spiritual truths of heaven is that a good tree will only bear good fruit and a bad tree will only bear bad fruit.

Genesis 3:17 – (God speaking to Adam) – Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:14 – (God speaking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden) – Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every other beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

Genesis 12:1-3 – Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will BLESS you and make your name great; and you shall be a BLESSING. I will BLESS those who BLESS you, and I will CURSE him who CURSES you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be BLESSED.

Psalm 113:1-3 – Praise the Lord! Praise O servants of the Lord, BLESSED be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!

God chose Abraham to be the father of his chosen people (Israel) and God’s blessings are poured out on the Jewish people. Abraham is Israel and Israel is Abraham. When God says Abraham is a blessing to the Gentiles he means salvation unto eternal life is from the Jews because Jesus Christ is a Jewish rabbi and direct descendant of Abraham. Christ is also the son of God and the only way to enter heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The above verses are very revealing. Our job on this earth is to seek out God’s blessings and avoid God’s curses. Therefore, make it a point to NEVER curse or do anything bad to Israel or any Jewish person because God will surely punish those who do. Instead, bless the Jewish people with your lips in prayer and look for ways to help Jewish people. God will love you for it and bless (reward) you accordingly.

1 Peter 1:3 – BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Ephesians 1:3 – BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED us with every spiritual BLESSING in heavenly places in Christ.

Psalm 1:1-2 – BLESSED is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 24:3-6 – Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive BLESSING from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

God also made a covenant with Gentiles through the blood of the Lamb of God; Jesus Christ, the son of God, who died on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven by a just God and our fellowship with God restored:

Ephesians 1:3-5 – BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED us with every spiritual BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

Psalm 112:1-2 – Praise the Lord! BLESSED is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; the generation of the upright will be BLESSED.

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 8:34 – BLESSED is the man who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors.

The Bible is full of curses and blessings. The word curse appears 101 times in the Bible. Cursed appears 72 times and other forms of the word curse appear another 34 times. 207 curses in total. The word bless appears 127 times in the Bible. Blessing or blessings appears 79 times and other forms of the word bless another 14 times. 220 blessings in total. As believers, if we want to curry God’s favor (blessings) and avoid God’s wrath (curses) we need to read the Bible daily and study God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. We cannot do God’s will and obey his commandments if we don’t know what they are. It would be like walking through a minefield blindfolded. When you read your Bible and you see the word blessing aimed at God think praise and worship and you’re on the right track. When we thank God in prayer God is also honored and glorified. When you see the word curse in the Bible attached to any promise from God pay particular attention to it so you can avoid it at all costs. Make sure all your actions only bring God’s blessings and none of God’s curses. God never fails to deliver what he has promised, whether good or bad.

Psalm 119:1-2 – BLESSED are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! BLESSED are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!

Jeremiah 17:7 – BLESSED is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.

Romans 4:8 – BLESSED is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.

Revelation 1:3 – BLESSED is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keeps those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

The word “curse” in the biblical sense only has one meaning. On the other hand, the word “bless” has a dual meaning, depending on who is doing the blessing and who is receiving the blessing. When God is doing the blessing we have the most common definition which is a supernatural God dispensing favor or protection to his creatures or creation. When something is blessed it’s made holy. Holy means morally and spiritually excellent. God is perfect and the definition of holiness. For man, holiness is something we strive for and something God is working in us for our sanctification. When man is the one blessing and the recipient is God then the definition of “bless” or “blessing” means to praise God. We can clearly see this is what God means in Psalm 34:1.

Psalm 34:1-2 – I will BLESS the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Proverbs 10:6 – BLESSINGS are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

Titus 2:13 – Looking for the BLESSED hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Provers 28:20 – A faithful man will abound with BLESSINGS, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

If you want a primer on the blessings of God check out the beatitudes in the book of Matthew, chapter five. If you want an awareness of the curses of God and how to avoid them don’t neglect reading the Pentateuch; especially the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Below are some definitions you need to know:

Praise – show respect and gratitude

Worship – show deep respect and admiration

Glorify – to praise and worship God

Reverence – deep respect or admiration for someone or something

Fear – show awe and reverence

Psalm 34: 1, says we are to bless the Lord at all times with our lips. The definition of bless is “to praise God.” Praise means to show respect and gratitude. Worship means to show deep respect and admiration so praise and worship are essentially the same thing. Reverence is showing that respect and admiration for someone, which in our case is God. Biblical “fear” is when we show awe and reverence for God. People sometimes ask the question, “How do I worship God?” or “Am I worshipping God correctly?” Worshipping God doesn’t have to be intricate or hard. Worshipping God can be as simple as saying, “Bless you Lord for my salvation” or “Bless you Lord for loving me” or “Thank you God for watching over me.” You can bless the Lord in endless ways by using the word bless (which means praise) and then adding any of God’s many attributes or any of the ways God has helped you (i.e. Thank you Lord for your tender mercies). The point is, blessing God is meant to be quick and easy so we can do it often throughout the day and this is confirmed in the Scriptures.

God made us and put us on this earth for fellowship. That means God wants to be our friend and he wants to talk to us on a regular basis. God has established how this two-way communication between God and man is going to work. The biblical term for man talking with God is “prayer.” After the advent of Jesus Christ God talks to man primarily through the pages of his word (the Bible), or through the indwelt Holy Spirit influencing our thoughts and actions. I’m not saying God can’t or won’t manifest himself to a believer, or have an angel appear with a message or speak directly to man out of thin air. I’m just saying it’d be rare for such a thing to happen. When I see televangelists say they have an ongoing verbal dialog with God I take it with a grain of salt. I’m not calling them a liar. I’m just saying it hasn’t happened to me and I remember the great Billy Graham saying God never spoke to him either.

Ephesians 5:20 – Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

Hebrews 13:15 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Psalm 5:3 – My voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.

If you were invited to speak to an earthly monarch, like Queen Elizabeth of England for instance, you would first be summoned to appear. You’d have to wait outside the throne room. You’d be instructed what to do; either bow or kneel. Then you’d have to address the sovereign with a preferred royal title such as Your Majesty or Your Highness. This protocol is a sign of respect. After the preliminaries are done then you can say why you are there. Even the Queen’s family will use her royal title when addressing her in a public setting. Even the Queen’s family cannot barge in on her unannounced. The court of heaven also has a protocol and our audience is through prayer.

1 Thessalonians 6:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but let everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Ephesians 6:18 – Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Psalm 63:1 – O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

God is King of kings and Lord of lords. God is the Sovereign King of the universe which he has made. As believers we’re the beloved children of God and he has graciously granted us 24/7 access to the throne of grace. Even the angels don’t have the access to God that we have. Even as a child of God we must still approach God in the proper way using an acceptable format that shows our deep respect, admiration and reverence for God. You don’t just barge in on God and say, “Hey dad, what’s up?” When addressing God the first words out of your mouth should be to address God with one of his royal titles or an attribute of the Most High God. My personal favorites are, “Holy God” and “Lord of Heaven and Earth.” “Holy God” because holiness is God’s greatest attribute. “Lord of Heaven and Earth” because Jesus often used that title when he was praying to God the Father. When you’re coming before God know why you’re there. There are basically five types of prayers before God which are worship, thanksgiving, confession, intercession and personal petition. You can cover more than one kind of prayer when talking to God when it’s appropriate. Not only does God grant believers access to his throne, he also promises to hear our prayers and answer them. God is a good, kind, gentle, generous and merciful God!

Colossians 3:2 – Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Luke 21:36 – (Jesus speaking) – Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

James 5:16 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Psalm 4:1 – Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

Ninety percent of all prayers to God are because we want something from God; either for ourselves (personal petitions) or for others (intercessions). The next most prevalent prayer is a prayer of confession for the forgiveness of sins. All of us need God’s forgiveness on a daily basis because we’re imperfect creatures mired in sin. When I pray to God every night I always ask for God’s forgiveness of any sins that I may have committed that day. As a believer I know all my sins before God have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb but I’m still acutely aware that I continue to sin and I want those new sins off my ledger before my eyes close for the night. It just makes me feel a lot better knowing when I stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ that all of my sins will have been confessed as well as forgiven.

Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!

1 John 1:9 -If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 4:15 – Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

Psalm 6:9 – The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

The last two categories of prayer are for thanksgiving to God and the worship of God. Probably less than five percent of all prayers are specifically for this purpose only. Most believers will pray to God at some point in the day; probably at meal times and maybe at night before going to bed. I fall into that category most of the time. Like most everyone else my prayers are usually personal petitions and intercessions sprinkled with a few confessions here and there. Scripture says we’re to pray to God always, ceaselessly and continually. Always means on all occasions, at all times, repeatedly and forever. The word ceaselessly means without stopping. The word continually means constantly or occurring frequently. When our prayers are only about “us”, our desires and our family and friends it’s very hard to pray as often as the Scriptures say we should. We can only pray all day long if we have the love of God in our heart. Prayers should come easily from your heart if you love God.

Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Luke 10:2 – (Jesus speaking) – The harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Luke 11:9 – (Jesus speaking) – So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Psalm 22:5 – They cried to You and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

It’s only when we turn to the little used prayers of thanksgiving and worship that we realize God’s priorities for prayer are different from our own. We have it upside down. Instead of 90% of our prayers being all about us and what we want, 90% of our prayer life should be focused on prayers that worship God and prayers of thanksgiving for what God has done for us. Only by looking at prayers in that context will we be able to obey God’s command to pray to him always, continually, and ceaselessly. When God says to pray continuously he doesn’t mean nonstop because then we couldn’t get anything else done. Even monks in a monastery can’t approach that level of prayer. God is actually telling us to pray more frequently during our waking hours, and in every circumstance in which we find ourselves. This could easily mean praying 3-4 times an hour with each prayer possibly being very brief, taking no more than a few seconds each. “Lord help me” is an example of a short prayer. The point is we need to keep God at the forefront of our minds as we go about each day. The moment we know we’ve a committed a sin pray for God’s forgiveness immediately.

John 9:31 – Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him.

1 John 5:14-15 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

Psalm 30:2 – O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.

How is it possible to pray that often? Our minds never stop thinking. Our thoughts are like the spinning wheels of a slot machine that stop briefly ever once in a while, before carrying on. As believers we have the peace of God knowing God has saved us unto eternal life in heaven and ever time that fact crosses our mind during the day we should rejoice briefly by acknowledging God and thanking him in prayer. Just a few words will do. Something like, “Holy God, thank you for eternal life”, “Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son Jesus to save me from hell”, or “Lord, thank you for saving my soul” You get the general idea. Whatever crosses your mind that you’re thankful for let God know right away with your lips. There’s no right or wrong way to pray. Just make sure your prayer comes from the heart and you’ll be in good shape. Address God respectfully and tell him what you’re thankful for; keep it short and sweet. God knows what you mean to say when you pray and he knows your needs.

John 3:27 – A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

1 Timothy 2:8 – I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Psalm 50:15 – Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

When you pray to God frequently you can’t help but cultivate a sense of gratitude and thankfulness toward God. The more you pray to God the more your fellowship with God deepens and the happier you’ll become. The peace of God settles on your soul and you end up with a happy and successful life as you walk humbly with your God. As you study God’s word note how many times we’re commanded to pray and what we’re to pray for. Prayer is important to God so do it frequently throughout the day. Jesus Christ prayed to God the Father often during his earthly ministry as an example for us follow. Jesus commanded us to pray and he also told us how to pray. The word pray appears 313 times in the Bible. The word prayer or prayers appears 138 times in the Bible. Other forms of the word prayer occurs an additional 94 times in the Bible. Prayer mentioned this many times in God’s word shows it’s an integral part of God’s salvation plan for man. We’re to pray not only on earth but also when we get to heaven.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Matthew 7:11 – If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 6:7-8 – (Jesus speaking) – And when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

Psalm 34:1-2 – I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.

I don’t care what nationality you are, what language you speak, or what your ethnic background is. We’re all brothers and sisters made by the same God, who put eternity in our hearts so that we would know deep down in our soul that there is a God and that we’re to search him out. We’ll never find true happiness or inner peace until we return to our maker. We can see all this inner turmoil and spiritual hunger that ungodly people have play out through the pages of human history as each tribe, nation or people created their own god or gods to worship. The vast majority of people know there’s a God in heaven. The problem most of us have is deciding which God is real and which god is false.

Hebrews 1:2 – (God) Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son (Jesus), whom He has appointed heir of all things, through which He made the worlds.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

All the evidence you need to make an informed decision about God is easily discerned. I’ve been passionately studying religion for over twenty years and the overwhelming body of evidence proves that the one true God of creation is the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The inerrant Bible has been proven beyond any doubt that it’s the word of God. On the other hand, there’s not one shred of evidence to support any of the fake religions or false gods that have ever been created. What does the true Lord of heaven and earth have to say about all these other fake religions and false gods?

Exodus 20:3 – You shall have no other gods before Me.

Exodus 20:7 – You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain (not show proper respect).

Numbers 23:19 – God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will he not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Romans 3:4 – Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written, “That you may be justified by your words, and may overcome when you are judged.”

Why is the world in such a mess? Satan is the arch-enemy of God and, as the god of this world, he opposes God at every turn and tries his best to destroy God’s creation and prevent man from finding the truth of God and their salvation unto eternal life in heaven. Man is God’s beloved masterpiece of creation and since Satan hates God he also hates us and would like nothing better than to grieve God by taking as many of God’s children to hell with him as he possibly can. We wouldn’t want to see any of our children burn in the fires of hell and God is no different in that respect.

Hebrews 9:27 – And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

It was Satan who caused the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and he has been trying to destroy us ever since. Throughout history it has been Satan who has sponsored all the fake religions and false gods in an effort to hide the truth of God from man. Satan is the father of lies and the father of all those evil men who helped Satan create the world’s fake religions and false gods. These men are all liars, either intentionally or unintentionally, and they’re all weak-minded accomplices of the devil. They will pay a heavy price for leading billions of people down the wide path that leads to destruction; eternal damnation in the lake of fire and brimstone.

John 8:44 – (Jesus speaking) – You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Romans 1:24-25 – Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:14-16 – Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation – as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

Matthew 24:5 – (Jesus speaking) – For many will come in My name, saying “I am the Christ”, and will deceive many.

If you’re one of those lost people in the world who haven’t yet found God then today could be your lucky day; the day of your salvation. Pull your head out of the sand while there’s still time and take a look at the world around you. Take time out to consider the universe; ponder the earth where we live; and evaluate the complex nature of man. Do you really think the universe we live in just happened on its own? Scientists have established over 200 physical parameters in our universe that allow human life to exist. Most of these parameters have narrow ranges and if even one of these parameter didn’t exist then no human life would be possible. You’re telling me all 200 plus parameters evolved on their own and arranged themselves in order for life to exist; all on their own without the guiding hand of a supernatural God. Are you kidding me? It’s statistically impossible for all these parameters of life to have evolved on their own without the guiding hand of God.

John 14:9 – (Jesus speaking) – He who has seen Me has seen the Father.

John 1:3 – All things were made through Him (Jesus), and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Psalm 138:2 – I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

Do you really believe man evolved from a one-cell organism into a complex human being made up of more than thirty trillion highly specialized cells and with a brain that is the greatest super computer in the universe? Can you can tell me that with a straight face? Really! God has explained everything in his word, our Holy Bible, which contains God’s wisdom. Have you taken the time to actually read your Bible all the way through? Less that ten percent of church-going Christians have read the entire Bible. Have you studied your Bible and meditated on it? Very few people have done this. My question for everyone is why not? After all, the Bible contains the wisdom of God and tells you everything you need to know to live a successful life. God’s word answers all the important questions of life. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? Aren’t you the least bit curious? You should be.

Philippians 2:5-8 – Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:9-11 – Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:12-13 – Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:14-16 – Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

We can’t see an invisible God but we can see his handiwork, his fruit, all around us and know that God is real. We can’t see the invisible fallen angel known as Satan but we also know he is real by the mark he leaves behind in the world; the fruit of his doings. All the wars throughout history, all the killings, all the murders and all the unspeakable evil that men do to one another can be attributed to Satan. Sin came to man through Adam’s fall, which was caused by Satan, and we cannot save ourselves from an eternity in hell. Only a good and loving and gracious God can save us and he did that through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the son of God, who came down from heaven to die on the cross in our place to satisfy our sin debt owed to a just God.

Matthew 1:22-23 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh (Jesus) and dwelt among us.

2 Corinthians 6:2 – In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the clay of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

John 12:48 – (Jesus speaking) – He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Galatians 1:11-12 – (Paul speaking) – But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Even though God paid the sin debt of all men we must still claim that forgiveness of sin as an individual, by personally accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, whereby we are gifted salvation unto eternal life in heaven. The sin debt will remain on all those who reject God and his Christ. One of the spiritual laws of heaven is, “the wages of sin is death.” Therefore, a just God will send to hell for all eternity those who die without having their sins forgiven. God does not change. The choice is ours not God’s. It’s up to us to accept God’s mercy and grace and the sooner the better. Do it today, right now, because if you die before you’re saved you’ll miss your opportunity to go to heaven.

Matthew 10:28 – (Jesus speaking) – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Psalm 95:6 – Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Look, it’s not possible for the human mind to fully comprehend how long “forever” is. In eternity a billion trillion years is only a day. Nor can man fully understand the level of excruciating pain and agony that the damned will have to endure continually, 24/7, for all eternity. If nonbelievers truly understood the horror of their impending fate they would all rush to Jesus with arms open wide begging for mercy. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and he loves us all dearly! Come to him while there is still time!

Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Psalm 14:1 – The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.

Isaiah 55:6 – Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

The Word of God is about the coming revelation of Jesus Christ and it was written over a period of 1500 years (1400 BC – 100 AD). The Old Testament is Jesus Christ prophesied and the New Testament is Jesus Christ fulfilled. People naturally focus on the New Testament as they should because the first four books of the New Testament are the four gospels of Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), through which God brings “good news” to man by gifting salvation unto eternal life to those who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died on the cross for the forgiveness their sins. It’s true we don’t need to know the Old Testament in order to be saved. Salvation is through faith in Jesus. But God gave us the Old Testament for a reason. God wanted us to know the history of man from creation to the end of time and God also wanted us to know his salvation plan for man. Without the Old Testament we lose critical background information every believer needs to know in order to live the abundant life God has planned for us. Without the Old Testament we only know half of the greatest story ever told.

Genesis 3:15 – (God speaking) – And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed (Jesus Christ); he shall bruise your head , and you shall bruise His heel (crucifixion).

Genesis 12:1-3 – Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

People tend to think that since we have the New Testament the Old Testament is now no longer valid. Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s truth never changes; it’s always constant for all eternity. God’s Word is our Holy Bible which contains the covenants of God and both testaments of God. The dictionary defines the word “testament” as a person’s will. God is a person and the Bible is a statement of God’s will so that man might know what our maker requires of us. God’s Word is his truth and his wisdom. God’s word is a living thing. What does that mean? Scripture makes it clear that an all-powerful God does as he pleases.

Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Isaiah 46:9-10 – Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.

If something is God’s will it’s a foregone conclusion it will happen exactly like God says it will. God is omnipotent and nobody can oppose him. God cannot lie and God is never wrong. What more do you need to know? God gave us the Bible in written form so we’d know his will; what has happened already and what will happen in the future. That makes the Bible God’s truth. That makes the Bible a living thing which will endure forever. God makes it clear in Hebrews 8:13, that the coming of Jesus Christ ended the Old Testament Abrahamic covenant under the law of Moses and established a new covenant through the blood of the Lamb; Jesus Christ our Lord and the Son of God. However, the coming of Jesus didn’t suddenly invalidate the entire Old Testament. On the contrary, one covenant of God simply became obsolete so God replaced it with a new and better covenant, for those living after the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 – To which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile).

The Bible isn’t a novel with a bunch of made-up frivolous words. God speaks the truth plainly and he doesn’t waste words. God cannot lie and he speaks only the truth. Every single word and punctuation mark in the Bible is there for a reason. They are there so man might receive the knowledge, understanding and wisdom of God. Can you not see how special this gift of God is for us? Most people walk past their unopened Bibles every day like it’s merely a book; never taking the time to stop and fully comprehending that the Bible is the power of God unto salvation, for all eternity. The Bible is our owner’s manual and it has unimaginable spiritual power that God has graciously provided to us.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 – For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Every word in the Bible has a purpose even though most of the time we might not know what that purpose is. The Old Testament is three times bigger than the New Testament and contains a wealth of information. If we don’t read the Old Testament and know it like the back of our hand we’re missing out on a lot of the knowledge that God wants us to know. I truly believe we can’t know God as we should without a working knowledge of the Old Testament because in it God reveals so much of his nature through his words and interactions with man. God wants us to know him personally and for that to happen we need to study the Old Testament.

Hebrews 8:13 – In that He (the Lord) says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.

2 Samuel 7:16 – (God speaking to King David) – And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

People think the Old and New Testaments aren’t connected together but that’s not true. Not only does the New Testament contain numerous references to the Old Testament, the Old Testament contains many prophecies that are fulfilled in the New Testament. The Bible contains over 1000 prophecies, over 500 of which have already been fulfilled and documented as fact in the New Testament. The Bible is one third prophecy, which weaves the Old and New Testaments together into one inseparable word of God.

In the book of Jeremiah, written around 580 BC, God goes to great lengths to explain the new covenant he will create with man through his son Jesus Christ. This is in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and it’s the longest Old Testament text quoted in the New Testament and it’s repeated verbatim in Hebrews 8:8-12 and 10:16-17. These two complimentary sets of verses firmly link both testaments into one Word of God for those who need further convincing. These verses from both the Old and New Testaments give us assurance that God will grant believers salvation, new hearts, and fellowship with God in heaven forevermore. What a wonderful promise from an awesome God!

Jeremiah 31:31-32 – Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

When God came down from heaven in the incarnation of Jesus Christ the Jews rejected their Messiah. In the above verses God is obviously referring to the last Day when Jesus will set foot on the Mount of Olives and save a Jewish remnant that will enter into the kingdom of God forever. The Lord does not change so the Jews will always be God’s chosen people even though they’ve rejected their Messiah for the last 2000 years. In the interim, Jews who don’t accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will go to hell just like all nonbelieving Gentiles who reject God’s saving grace. However, God in his love, mercy and grace will save a Jewish remnant on the last day because of his covenant promise to Abraham, which was then passed down to his direct descendants Isaac, Jacob, King David, and King Solomon.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 – But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

In heaven both Jew and Gentile will be the same; equally children of God. Salvation was of the Jews and God graciously grafted the Gentiles onto the Jewish vine so we could receive the blessings of Abraham. Cherish the Jewish people because they’re our brothers and sisters and we owe our salvation to them through Abraham. When Jesus Christ ascended back to heaven he didn’t stop being a Jewish rabbi. That being the case, if you love the Lord how can not love the Jewish people?

Scripture makes it clear God will curse those who curse the Jews. I love the verses above because I used to worry about going to heaven and then being found unworthy to be up there because I sinned in some way. Relax, God’s got this. God is going to make it so we can’t sin once we get to heaven because God says we’ll know him intimately. God doesn’t make mistakes. If you find yourself in heaven it’s because you were meant to be there; you’ll always be there and you’ll never have to take a back seat to anyone. Continually give praise, honor and worship to the Lord of heaven and earth because he has made you, he loves you and he has saved you unto eternal life. All glory to God in heaven!

2 Corinthians 4:3 – But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

I didn’t invent affirmations. They’ve been around for hundreds of years. Some famous theologians only used affirmations when they prayed to God. Why was that? Because affirmations work! God is a not a slot machine that pays out whenever you want something. However, when you have faith in God and approach him properly in prayer, with fear, then God will hear your petitions and give you what you ask for. To ‘fear God” in biblical terms means to show awe, deep respect, and reverence to your maker and the King of the Universe. The Bible says God will answer the prayers of believers but it doesn’t say when this will happen. It could happen quickly or it could take twenty years or more. God is inscrutable in all his dealings with man. The secret is to keep praying until God answers you.

My affirmations are not my own. They’re all borrowed from a book titled, “The Tongue” by Charles Capps who is a well known Christian author and minister. This little paperback book was first published in 1976. It’s out of print now but you can sometimes still find it on Ebay for under $10. It’s a good addition to any religious reference library. God made man to have authority over this physical plane. We see that in Genesis where God gave Adam (a man) dominion over the earth. Then Satan caused Adam to sin which caused his fall and he forfeited control over the earth to Satan. Jesus Christ came down from heaven to die on the cross for our sins and by his resurrection he reclaimed the earth for man. Jesus reclaimed the earth for man as a man, and not God.

It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t reclaim the earth for God. Jesus just wanted to reestablish dominion over the earth for man which God had given to his special creation (man) through Adam. That’s why God works through men to accomplish his will on earth. The word of God conceived in the heart, formed by the tongue, and spoken out of the mouth of man is creative power. It’s how we establish and use the authority God gave us. The spoken word will work for you as long as you continuously confess it and we do that through affirmations. Always pray the result you seek as if God has already granted your petition.

“I delight myself in the Lord and He gives me the desires of my heart.”

“I have given and it is given unto me good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, men given unto my bosom.”

“There is no lack for my God supplies all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

“And I, having received the gift of righteousness do reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ.”

“Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. Christ has redeemed me from poverty, Christ has redeemed me from sickness, Christ has redeemed me from spiritual death.”

“For poverty He has given me wealth, for sickness He has given me health, for death He has given me eternal life.”

“It is true unto me according to the Word of God.”

“I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of Him that created me.”

“With what measure I mete, it is measured unto me. I sow bountifully, therefore I reap bountifully. I give cheerfully, and my God has made all grace abound toward me and I having all sufficiency of all things do abound to all good works.”

“The Lord is my shepherd and I do not want because Jesus was made poor, that I through His poverty might have abundance. For He came that I might have life and have it more abundantly.”

“The Lord has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant, and Abraham’s blessings are mine.”

When you verbally speak your spiritual affirmations before God in prayer you’re praising God with your lips, which the Bible says we’re to do at all times of the day. We’re to praise God continually in prayer because it honors God and glorifies his name. It’s important we acknowledge God before the heavenly host (angels) and the forces of darkness on earth (demons). Affirmations are merely a different kind of prayer we use to declare our alignment with God’s word. Affirmations are like a solemn oath to God. Think of it like you’re giving sworn testimony in a court of law where you have to put your hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Taking an oath before the Lord of Creation is a serious thing.

God has prepared great blessings for his children, not only in heaven but also here on earth. If these affirmations sound familiar to you they should because they’re all Scriptures taken from the Bible, either directly or paraphrased into a declarative statement to capture the intent of God’s word and invoke the blessings God wants believers to have here on earth. Here’s a secret about prayer. When you pray the Scriptures back to God you’re glorifying God so you can’t go wrong as long as you keep praying. God has to answer your prayers in order to fulfill his word. Of course God’s timetable may not be the same as yours. Why wouldn’t you want the blessings of God right now while you’re alive on earth? You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven. One thing I know; when believers get to heaven they’ll be amazed at the blessings God was prepared to give them on earth had they only asked for them continually in prayer. Pray to the Lord continually!

AFFIRMATIONS:

“The peace of God which passes all understanding keeps my heart and my mind through Christ Jesus. And all things which are good, and pure, and perfect, and lovely, and of good report, I think on these things.”

“The joy of the Lord is my strength. The Lord is the strength of my life.”

“I will not let the Word of God depart from before my eyes for it is life to me for I have found it and it is health and healing to all my flesh.”

“! am a believer and these signs do follow me. In the name of Jesus I cast out demons, I speak with new tongues, I lay hands on the sick and they do recover.”

“Jesus gave me the authority to use His name. And that which I bind on earth is bound in heaven. And that which I loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Therefore in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I bind the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. I bind and cast down spiritual wickedness in high places and render them harmless and ineffective against me in the name of Jesus.”

“I let the peace of God rule my heart and I refuse to worry about anything.”

“I speak the truth of the Word of God in love and I grow up into the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“I am complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power. For I am his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that I should walk therein.”

“I am increasing in the knowledge of God. I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.”

“I am delivered from the power of darkness and I am translated into the kingdom of His dear Son.”

“I am born of God and I have world overcoming faith residing on the inside of me. For greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”

“I will do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

“I let no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth, but that which is good to edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearer. I grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby I’m sealed unto the day of redemption.”

“God is on my side. God is in me now; who can be against me? He has given unto me all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Therefore I am a partaker of His divine nature.”

“No man shall take me out of His hand for I have eternal life.”

“I’m the Body of Christ, I am redeemed from the curse, and I forbid any sickness, or disease to operate in this body. Every organ, every tissue will function properly, for greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”