Featured Post

Keith Green - Oh Lord, You're Beautiful

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Noah's ark....

I was watching a t.v.show last night. A lady was going to go where “they say” Noah’s ark landed on the mountain of Ararat.

She is not a Christian and “this is how the world sees it”


She arrived in a small village in Turkey and the guide there points her to a very, very large stone with a hole in the top and tells her Noah had this hanging from the ark.

He explains that….when the animals moved to one side of the ark, Noah would hang the large rock, on a very thick rope, on the opposite side of the ark, so as to keep the balance and the ark would not topple over….(yea…right)

This rock was so large, she could not make her self tall enough, even on tippy toe, to look through the hole, because, her guide told her, if you look through the hole in the large rock, (at least 6feet tall) you can see MT Ararat.

So the camera man obliged and the camera, us, looked through the hole and yes, we could see the snow covered mountain.

She then had a small boat, made out of paddlepop sticks….had a piece of clay, that she had brought with her from England, put a hole in it, tied a piece of string to it, then hung it from her little paddlepop stick boat…Oh, I might add, she called the stone “holy” the mountain was holy, everything was holy.( I at first thought she meant the stone was holey, because it had a hole in it?

But when she called everything else holy as well, I guess I was wrong) But I digress…..She then said….
.
”When Noah saw mt Ararat, he got a big knife, and some one helped him cut the rope, and the stone dropped to the ground, and that is how it got here… amazing isn’t it?

What the Bible says:
Genesis 7 v 18-20; And the waters prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.



Twice it says that the mountains were covered…
Now….......how do you suppose Noah found the mountain Ararat when all the mountains were covered?

Besides in Chapter 8 we read: verse 4: And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. Upon the Mountains…plural…not one mountain..... but the mountain range called "Ararat," like we have the mountain range called “The Liverpool range” part of our blue mountains, it’s not a mountain called Liverpool.


Still wonder how people get the wrong impression as to exactly “what” the Bible says? And, to make it sound even better, they ignore what God wants to convey to them, but put in their own meanings and translations and say, God must have meant this…or that….but unless we ask the guidance from the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Bible…God’s word, and we ask Him, we will never understand it..... as we see it through our own sinful eyes and thoughts and mind.
Blessings
Yaddy

Thursday, April 17, 2014

It's in the blood!!!

I remember when I was first born-again and I thought to myself about being covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. It is true, it is the ONLY way for our sins to be forgiven of us, by a loving God. Yet a God who demands perfection, even in you and me. For a moment, please place yourself in my shoes, having worked for almost fifty years in the medical field.

I have been in the emergency rooms, and explored the awful effects of many accidents; some big while others not so much. I have held a beating human heart in my hand and have worked to force blood around the body, as a cardiovascular surgeon works feverishly to close a hole in it. I have literally been covered in blood a few times. Thus, when I consider being covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, I have a slightly different concept of that particular issue.

For a moment I would like to pause on that thought and look at something else, that in conjunction with the above has a correlation. We often, in our own ignorance or the tension of the moment, forget to see something else that is most important.

Take a few minutes and read the Word of God in Genesis 3, where in a space of a few moments God declared the death of Adam and Eve for their sinful disobedience to Him. It took only a few moments for Adam and Eve to defy God and listen to the subtle words of Satan and eat of the forbidden fruit.

Few ever come to a realization of what God was actually saying to Adam and Eve. Just Prior to Adam and Eve eating of the forbidden fruit, they were perfect human beings in every way. There was no problem with famines, droughts, disease or any other imperfection in them, but in those few moments, God declared they would die.

So then the question would be, “Would they simply fall over dead?” No! Otherwise there would be no population growth of any kind, but their life spans would diminish greatly, their lives would be filled with hardship and pain. Their offspring would deal with the same for as long as they would bear more children. In essence, they were doomed to a variety of problems, that at times would seem too great and unbearable. And it all took only a matter of moments. Simple moments in time, that changed the very nature of the universe.

Isaiah 53:5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

As Jesus walked to Golgotha, as they drove the spikes in his hands and feet.......
HE never once was concerned with Himself, there was NO, “It's all about ME!” As He hung there, his hands and feet tearing, it was the weight of the sin of the world that was pulling Him down and causing His great pain and suffering, Our sin! Jesus Christ knew every single disaster and difficulty we would ever endure rested on His shoulders. His tears were for you and me! (“Why Father...won’t they listen?”)

Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

Leviticus 17:13-14: “And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.”

Have you ever noticed, it is most difficult to get blood off of you? Get it in your clothing, you might as well throw it out, it is stained for good.
Does this hit you anywhere?...... Stained!

Now take a moment and tell me the Lord does not work in unusual ways!

The Lord knows what makes up blood..... and HE uses this in a myriad of ways to get our attention.

There are signs everywhere of the things that He decides are worthy for you and me to learn, and this is on a daily basis. So then the question is this:

“Why are we so dull-minded and ignorant of these things?”

As I stated before, I have been covered in blood a few times and it is literally a pain to get rid of it. At least a few long bathes to do so, because it gets in all the nooks and crannies. Blood is a liquid of extremely unusual properties; it literally will stick to everything. Now do you understand why the Word of God, uses the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, in the manner that it does?

Since the days of Adam and Eve, there has never been a more strange and unusual entity than blood! I say “entity” because blood is unique unto itself; there is no other entity like it in the entire universe. It is, as the Bible says, the lifeline of everything that lives.

Has it never occurred to you, that all bacteria and Viruses, attack the Blood?

Death is not just falling over dead, it can be a strung out affair, for sure! Look at cancer; it requires us to administer toxic chemicals into the blood to control it. Everything wrong with you and me can be traced back to a situation with our blood. Why do you think physicians order so many blood tests? Absolutely everything necessary is there!

One must then see all disease as blood-borne. All disease leaves a footprint in our blood, that then makes you wonder why sin is so horrible. Everything, to include our sin, leaves its mark in our blood, STDs of every sort, right up to AIDS, cancer, heart disease, all of it.

And then when we read about Jesus Christ on the cross, covering our sin with His blood, it takes on a whole different viewpoint. Blood to blood, His to ours has a totally different effect. Human blood to human blood could very well kill us, can give us a new disease and even deform us to some extent. The saving grace, the love of the Lord for you and me, is in His blood.

John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

You may contact the author at: dontwobears@sbcglobal.net
blessings
Yaddy

Sunday, April 6, 2014

I lost a dear friend......

I had a dear friend who recently died from breast cancer.


She is often on my mind because....she believed that everybody would eventually be saved and go to heaven.
We had our discussions and she was adamant she was right!

What I could not get through to her was that it does not matter what “WE” think, it’s what God’s will is,
according to His Word, the Bible.

We are sinful and fail at every turn.

She did not believe that either, she was also sure that people are “good” ( which a lot of people think.)
So I asked her, “If we all go to heaven eventually, why did Jesus have to come in the flesh and then, have to die on the cross.?”
I am convinced that Jesus died in my place and that He came in the flesh so He could also die to the flesh, which I cannot do.
My flesh keeps rearing up again and again.

Even though I tried to tell her that we sin, every day, (she agreed with that)and the Bible tells us “the wages of sin are death” (Romans 6 v 23) I asked her had she done any reading from the Old Testament?
She said, “No, she was mainly in the New testament”


So I then showed her in the book of Genesis ch 15 where God made a covenant with Abraham. This is a little hard to understand but as I see it (and please check it yourself to see if it fits)
verse 17 tells me “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.”
From what I understand this was a ceremonial way of confirming a covenant which lasted for ever....smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. Symbols of God’s presence with Israel on their way to the Promised Land (Ex. 13:21;).(Pillar of cloud by day/fire by night to lead them) passed between these pieces.

(As other ancient Near Eastern texts and Jer. 34:18 indicate,
by passing between the torn animals (signifying the punishment due those who break the covenant) God invokes a oath or curse upon Himself should He fail to keep His covenant. Because He can swear by no higher authority, God swears by Himself to keep the covenantal terms.)


This covenant is still on going! It is not just with Abraham, if it was it would have died with him, it is with his seed as well and eventually Christ, and by adoption we are also part of that seed, because we have accepted Christ as our saviour, and He died for all our sins...

So she then said, “Well, what about “the elect?” that are so often mentioned in the Bible?”
So again I tried to explain that “we” are all the elect. Everybody is!!!
There is not a special group that is “the elect” I told her I left a church because that was what they taught, and no where does it say so in God’s word!.

John 3 v 16 clearly states “God so loved the “world” with this word “World” we all know God means all the people...right?”
She agreed.....
Then her biggest fear, “Well, what about hell, God sends people to hell....how can he do that?”

So I then tried to explain to her that...... “God does not send people to hell....” they decide for themselves where they go....God has given us all a free will so we can decide for ourselves who to follow......

God made hell for the devil and his angels because they rebelled against God......not for humans!

“Then,” she said, “ What about the stuff churches tell you you “have to do” in order to be “saved”
So I told her, “Well, actually, once you have accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour, that’s it!
You do not have to do anything more and if “they tell you that you do......

well..... that was a lie. But now we have discovered the truth!

The lie was substituted for love......... shame and performance are not part of the good news.

God loves us and sent His Son to be our hope. He has provided all that we need “for life and godliness.”
What the Father has done for us in Jesus is enough. We are not condemned and no longer need to live in fear, shame, and inadequacy. Jesus is our hope, our righteousness, our life. The truth has set us free.

The devil wants as many humans as possible, (because they are made in God’s image and he hates, no loathes them) to come with him, and hence he tries to deceive them.
We get plenty of warnings from God in His book, the Bible, about how much of a deceiver and liar and traitor this devil is, we just need to trust in God through Jesus, and listen to Him, for us to do the right thing.

The thing is....if you do not follow one.......then by default you follow the other.
And as C.S.Lewis said.....”The devil will get people to say and do anything.... to make you believe that he does not exist!” But he does!!!


For example.....during WW2.... No one spoke up, when Hitler decided to put all those restrictions on the Jews, so he got away with it......he then put more restrictions on them....no one said anything.....it happened and again, no one said anything.... Hitler then decided that the Jews were not really people, but vermin, so he decided to exterminate them, he did,
a lot of them....
If people had spoken up.....and if enough of them had, this would not have happened! So, by saying nothing......not speaking up......by default..... they agreed, with him,and Hitler did his dastardly deeds.

Hitler was also into the occult and worshiped satan.....which is where he probably got all his ideas from...again satan wanted to get rid of God’s people, because they were made in God’s image...hate is a terrible thing.
And of course we need faith, and faith is like a muscle, the more we use it, the stronger it becomes, but it also works in the opposite, the less we use it, the weaker it becomes!

We often had discussions like this, but.....she’s gone now, and as I said, I often wonder where she is right now!
Blessings
Yaddy

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Day light saving finished this weekend.

And I am so glad that it has.....

Don't get me wrong....I love daylight saving all through summer, but.....
our days are not like they are in the northern hemisphere.....early light and long days and short nights.

Our days, even in summer, with daylight saving are still short.....the longest day and it is practically dark by 8.30pm.
The mornings are light early, hence day light saving was introduced, quite a few years ago.....

Oh, there were the usual arguments against it....funny really...like the curtains would fade with more sunshining on them longer...that kinda thing....
I love the early mornings....have always been an early riser.....but.....as we drift into autumn, the days are getting shorter so
daylight saving was not really working now, this late into April...We had to switch on the lights in the mornings, as well as later in the evenings...defeating it's purpose.
I was in Europe a few years ago....we left in October, and the days were getting really short, so much so I was getting homesick for my home country here, for the bright early mornings, for even in winter, our early mornings are light as early as 6.30 7.ooam
Not like in Europe where it is still dark at 8.30am.

So tonight we all put our clocks back one hour and I will wake up around 6.00am and it will be bright daylight....
love it!
Blessings
Yaddy

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Movies?

I have heard so much about this new movie "Noah" starring Russell crowe.
I for one will not go and see it! Why?
Well, it's not a Christian movie and it's not made by a Christian producer and it does not follow the Bible correctly at all.
And I do not want my hard earned money to go to some one who makes a mockery of my faith,and then use it, to make more blasphemous movies.

I have been putting bits and pieces around the place.....letting people and friends know that I am not in favour of it.....so much so.....
that a dear friend of mine is getting totally sick of me criticising it all the time....I have not really criticised the movie, only the bits that I have seen of it.
The young lass that was sick of hearing me kindly told me, "I hear a lot of Christians criticise the movie, before they have seen it..."
So I informed her that, that was not what I had done, I had commented on the bits I had seen, not said anything about what I had not seen...
Another friend blasted me with....."For goodness sake, don't you think that your true Christian friends know the difference, and after all it is a movie..... for entertainment!

I reminded her, that not so long ago, an atheist friend of hers was overheard saying.....
"Did you know that the giant Goliath, in the story with David, was a normal sized man but David was a midget?"

Now......he had not read the Bible....so....where do you suppose he might have heard something like that?
A movie?
As I tried to tell her, it's not my Christian friends I am trying to get through to, for, as she correctly stated, they "know" the Bible, it's any unbelieving friends I am trying to get through to, for them NOT to believe this ridiculous adaptation of a Bible story that is no where near correct.
Blessings
Yaddy