Today's class (Sep. 28, 2007)
Phew, my heart's racing. I'm actually tired and want to go to sleep,
but the Spirit's prompting me to say something so here it goes. It's
in response of Lane's suggestion to read the Bible for yourself. You
guys, seriously, reading it changed my life. I wasn't even sure if
there was a God before and honestly didn't even care, but years ago
when I started to pray and ask Him to show me SOMETHING, He lead me to the Gospel of Matthew, specifically towards the end where it talks
about Jesus going to the cross and being resurrected. From that I
realized that God is so real, so personal, so sweet, so desiring to be
known and loved back that He would come to Earth as man; so desiring
to be known by me that He would take the time to answer prayers and
rescue me from a life of pain and darkness. So, personally, that's
why I trust the Bible as being from God and important to read, because
that's what saved me. That's what brought me to know there is a God.
I read it like a history book, a book of wisdom, but mostly I read it
like love letters. When I read through the Old Testament, I learn
about God's character: His holiness, and desire for justice, and
putting up with the Israelites, them going against Him, forgetting
about Him, mocking Him, and yet every time when it seems like He
should totally just wipe them out of existence (and believe me,
sometimes He comes close), He forgives them and gives them a second
chance, and why?? Because He loves them. And I read the New
Testament and about God getting so personal with us by sending a part
of Himself-Jesus Christ-to live with us (us meaning human beings).
Commandments and guidelines for our lives because like a parent--a
really wise and loving parent--God desires the best for us. I don't
know about you, but I would never read my fiance's love letters
objectively or a book of poems or a good novel. I'm subjective
because who I am influences me and influences what I get out of
things. In the case of science, yeah, we'd be going in circles never
making any progress if scientists weren't attempting to be objective.
But we are not talking about science.
I know people who throw out the whole Bible because they see
contradictions. They give up before even seeking answers (and I'm not
claiming that I know all the answers, but I can point you to the One
who can). The Gospels were written to 4 different audiences by 4
different authors, with 4 different points of view, but they were led
by the same Spirit of God and gave the same main and SO IMPORTANT
message: that Jesus died to open up a way for us to know the holy God,
and He is faithful because He promised to be resurrected and He was.
No, the disciples didn't get it when the tomb turned up empty. It
took them awhile--it took some of them Jesus Christ standing face to
face w/ them and allowing them to touch His hands for them to actually
say "Oh... Now we understand." Jesus had tried to explain it to them,
even at the last supper He was trying to help them see. Believe me,
it's not so uncommon. I do it all the time and even doubt God's
ability to handle situations even though He has proven faithful time
and time again. And Mary being so caught up in her grief and not
recognizing Jesus wasn't that uncommon either. When Jesus was walking
on water, His disciples were freaking out because they thought He was
a ghost and even doubted it was Him after He spoke to them. No, I
really don't think--actually, I know that we as humans haven't learned
everything there is to know about the Bible just like the field of
science still has many more exciting things to bring to light. But
thank goodness for the foundations we're able to build upon. Oh my goodness, I for realz didn't mean to write that much. My bad it's not about the videos or readings, I just had to share w/ you guys. G'nite!!
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