Know Your Bible

VOL. 13 February 14, 2016 NO. 48

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“GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS!”

This was a headline in a New York City newspaper the day after a shooting in California. The paper was mocking some people who are usually considered conservative. Quotes such as "our prayers are with the victims and their families, or "we pray that this does not happen again" is what was printed in the paper. In the middle of these quotes was the headline: "God Isn't fixing this". It upset a lot of conservatives and thrilled many liberals in our country. You can just see the writers and editors of this paper are so anti-God that this is their perception, and to them it is alright to mock those who claim to believe in a loving God and are asking God for their protection.

The truth of the matter is that the headline is correct. God is not going to fix the mess we are in because we got ourselves there. God did not do this. This all came about because man has rejected God and told God to get out of our lives so we can live how we want to live.

God gives every man free will to choose how he is going to live and what he is going to do. God does not interfere in anyone's decision. However, we must remind ourselves that God does play a part in the affairs of mankind in many ways. While God may not interfere with our decisions, God has given us some incentives and deterrents that we must consider. We know that the Bible reminds us numerous times that we will all stand before the judgment seat of God and be judged by the things we have done in our bodies and our minds.

While God will not fix the current problems, we do know that God has given us the instruction manual that we can follow in order to fix the problems we have created. The very first and foremost instruction is to love God with all we have, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus taught that every element in God's law is built upon love.

If you love someone you are not going to kill them. If you love someone you are not going to harm them. If you love someone you are not going to think anything bad about them. This is God's solution to all our problems. Every problem in the world today is here because someone violated a law of God. Whether it be hatred, bigotry, greed, theft, or even murder; every one of these is the result of turning away from God's instructions.

It is strange to think that most people in this world want to get rid of God, but still expect people to be godly towards others. That really does not make any sense. Some have chosen to remove God and be willing to live or die with the consequences. Our children killing each other in the streets; Our politicians taking bribes; Our neighbors stealing our property; Our evangelical leaders teaching and preaching lies. Where is all of this leading? A world void of God; thus a world void of godly living people.

God has given mankind the solution of hatred and killing. God's word teaches us to be kindly affectionate towards one-another. We are to love one another. We are to care and lookout for one-another.

If we were to put our energy into following God's commands; our world would become the utopia that mankind seeks. But until man turns to God and chooses to serve our Creator, man will be nothing more than an animal with no thought of another.

—Carey Scott

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“THE FULLNESS”

In Christ Jesus is God’s fullness, “for it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell” (Colossians 1:19). Again it is written, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (2:9). The deity of Jesus cannot be successfully denied as He is “the image of God” (2nd Corinthians 4:4; cf. Hebrews 1:3). Even those who opposed Him knew the Lord to be “making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18; cf. 10:33). The greatest proof of His divine nature is His role in creation; He is the one “through whom [God] made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2), “for by Him all things were created… and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16-17). Any attempt to gain the Father without the Son is empty, for Christ is His fullness!

In the church is Christ’s fullness. “His body [is] the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). “The edifying of the body of Christ” brings about “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (4:12-13). By “His body” is meant “the church” (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). The importance of the church must not be diminished or overlooked. It is “according to the eternal purpose” that “the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church” (Ephesians 3:10-11). His body, the church, is so essential that none can be saved outside it. “He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). Any attempt to gain Christ without His church is empty, for the church is His fullness!

The church is the fullness of Christ who is the fullness of God!

—Bryan Matthew Dockens

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AN ATHEIST’S VIEW ON LIFE

I will live my life according to these beliefs

God does not exist.

It is just foolish to think

That there is a God with a cosmic plan

That an all-powerful God brings redemption and healing to the pain and suffering in the world

Is a comforting thought,

However

Is only wishful thinking.

People can do as they please without eternal consequences.

The idea that

I am deserving of Hell

Because of sin

Is a lie meant to make me a slave to those in power

“The more you have, the happier you will be.”

Our existence has no grand meaning or purpose

In a world with no God

There is freedom to be who I want to be

But with God

Everything is fine.

It is ridiculous to think

I am lost and in need of saving

A CHRISTIAN’S VIEW ON LIFE

(reread from bottom to top)

—Anonymous

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