How did God use Peter, and why? We might all know a lot of people like Peter, he's pretty relatable. In the gospels, he’s portrayed as impetuous, always speaking his mind and acting on impulse. Peter wasn't perfect, he was a fisherman with quite the mouth and different views. He wasn't well recieved or understood, even causing uproars. In the Book of #Acts, Peter’s impulsive decisiveness transformed him into someone the early Christians turned to and relied on. Peter was raw, stubborn, and did not follow cleverly invented stories when told about the power of Jesus, BUT he was a real eyewitness to his earth shattering majesty and had a clear vision! God knew the plans he had for Peter in his ministry, and he knows the internal process required for us, too, often working in unseen ways. Jesus used Peter so that he was close to his mission from the multitudes it took him to aquire that relationship. Peters testimony and glorification for Jesus was raw and unworldly, drawing him to Jesus inner circle. By rooting perseverance in the person and work of Christ, believers can always cling to hope, and that's the gospel message Jesus told Peter to share. Sometimes like in Peters case, the more work it takes to aquire faith, the stronger it can be so hangon, its never a straight line. #peter #fisherman #hangon #needtobreatheacoustic 🎶 @needtobreathe #it'sneverastraightline #needtobreathe 🐠👣🐠
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The Bible’s unique features speak to its staying power. Have you read it yet?In this blog post we’ll look at the unique origin and nature of the Bible, the profound impact it has had on western civilization, and its responsibility for much of the progress of human history. We will not attempt to demonstrate the Bible’s truth or validity; we’ll cover those topics in future blog posts in this series.
What makes the Bible stand out from all other historical documents? So many things! Namely, its time span, geographical production, authorship, literary genres, languages, teachings, impact, and survival and resiliency. Unique in Its Time SpanMost scholars agree that the New Testament was completed by the second half of the first century AD. But sufficient evidence confirms that the earliest forms of the Bible were written during the time of the Hebrew exodus out of Egypt (c. 1400-1200 BC). This means the composition of the biblical writing, from the earliest book of the Bible to the last of the New Testament writings, spans a period of 1,300 to 1,500 years. The Bible is exceptional in that it was written and assembled over a vast number of generations. Unique in Its Geographical ProductionUnlike most other literary works, the composition and transmission of the biblical books did not emerge from a homogeneous community located in a single region of the ancient world. Rather, they were written by people in areas as diverse as Rome, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. This amazing geographical and ethnic diversity distinguishes the Bible from that of all other books. Unique in Its AuthorshipThe authorship of the Bible is amazingly diverse. Authored by approximately 4o different people, and edited and preserved by countless scribal schools and communities, the Bible preserves for us the writings of a vast array of different personalities from widely divergent social circumstances. Among them: kings, soldiers, herdsmen, legislators, fishermen, courtiers, priests and prophets, and a Gentile physician. Says Professor Mary Ellen Chase, “The story-tellers of the Bible … understood men and women of all sorts and in all conditions. There is literally no type of person whom they have neglected.” Unique in Its Literary GenresThe Bible is unique in that it includes a multitude of distinct literary forms and genres, including history, law, religious poetry, lyric poetry, parable and allegory, biography, personal correspondence, and even personal memoirs and diaries. Says Gerd Theissen, professor of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg, “The Bible is not a homogenous text but a compendium of different forms and genres. Each must be appreciated on its own terms.” The authors used the genres to focus their audience’s attention on the central character of God, the creator and sustainer of the earth, and His relationship with persons who accept a relationship with Him. Unique in Its LanguagesThe Bible is written in three different languages — Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek — each with its unique character and essence. Larry Walker, former professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary shares some of their distinctive traits: Hebrew, like the other early Semitic languages, concentrates on observation more than reflection. Effects are observed, but not traced through a series of causes. Hebrew is a pictorial language, vivid, concise, and simple, in which the past is not merely described, but verbally painted. Aramaic, perhaps the longest continuous living history of any known language, is linguistically close to Hebrew, and similar in structure. Aramaic served as a transition from Hebrew to Greek, as the language spoken by Jews in Jesus’ day. Aramaic connects Old Testament Hebrew with New Testament Greek. Greek, which is characterized by strength and vigor, is beautiful, rich, and harmonious. Greek was a language of argument, with a vocabulary and style that could penetrate and clarify phenomena rather than simply tell a story. Sermons recorded in the New Testament combine the Hebrew prophetic message with Greek oratorical force. Unique in Its TeachingsIt is unique in these three teachings: the Trinity, Incarnation and Atonement, and Faith Versus Works. Scripture proclaims one God, eternally existing as three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Scripture tells us that Jesus, as God, took human form that He might dwell among us to show us His nature, and then die for our sins, that we might be forever reconciled to God. But God did not, as some world religions suggest, weaken and humiliate Himself by lowering Himself to the level of humanity with all its frailties, weaknesses, and temptations. Christians recognize that His act is the most profound sacrificial and costly expression of divine love in history. Scripture tells us that our efforts to be “good enough” will never get us into heaven. God’s grace, alone, ensures that we will live with Him forever. No strings attached. Christianity at heart is a religion not of self-help, but divine rescue. In God’s eyes, every person’s value is found in their very being, not in their behavior. Most world religions, on the other hand, teach that paradise is the reward for good life deeds if, when placed on a scale, they outweigh their bad deeds. Unique in Its Impact & ResiliencyThe most popular book of all time. The Bible is the most widely distributed work every written, with the number of Bibles sold well into the billions. In addition to the printed copies of biblical literature, the Internet and digital media expose even more people to the Bible. YouVersion, a Bible app, has been translated into 799 languages and downloaded over 200 million times to date! No other written work has been so attacked, scrutinized, and persecuted as have the canonical books of the Bible. Yet the Bible continues to solidly withstand all forms of opposition. Says Bernard Ramm, former professor of religion at Baylor University: “A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and the committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put. No other book has been so chopped, knived, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified.” The Bible has greatly influenced western civilization, laying the groundwork for democratic forms of government and law, the rational exploration of the natural world, movements in both art and literature, and societal morals and values. The Bible heavily influenced our country’s maintenance of a system of justice. It’s why we look at a person and say they have value; that killing a human is wrong (if we ignore abortion). As well, the Bible has been a fundamental source for nearly every genre of art and literature. The greatest artists — Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and others — are most remembered and appreciated for their biblical masterpieces. A Book Worthy of Your ReadingClearly the Bible, as a central piece of humanity’s shared history, is worthy of its continued investigation, critical engagement, and appreciation. Some people haven’t read it simply because they assume that a book 2,000 years old must be outdated and irrelevant. Yet if they read it, they gain wisdom for modern life. How relevant is that? In reading it they also would learn of the greatest love story ever told: how Jesus willingly became our scapegoat so that we can be reconciled to God. Jesus literally died to have a relationship with us because we’re that important to God. The Bible tells us so. Read it! If you’ve ever tried to talk with Muslims about your faith, you’ll find it doesn’t take long before you run into the objection that our Scriptures have been corrupted and are therefore unreliable. But what happens when you have Arabic speakers who were born in Israel where you can see ancient Biblical texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls with your own eyes? In the land in which they were written? Arabs who can read the Hebrew documents fluently, because they grew up speaking Hebrew? This is the unique and privileged position of Israeli Arab believers.
Daniel 2 records an important prophetic vision given to King Nebuchadnezzar and the king’s search for its meaning. The prophet Daniel provides the solution and proves that “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (Daniel 2:28) and “reveals deep and hidden things” (Daniel 2:22).
A INTRODUCTION on the book of Zechariah;
Bible Cross References 🕊❤️🙏❤️🕊
LORD, EMPOWER US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HAVE EYES TO SEE. We are in a time when every believer needs to function in the ability to see, to have spiritual perception. Lord, empower us by the Holy Spirit to have eyes to see. I’m praying for you, to have increase in your ability to see for your life, for your family, for your destiny in Christ, for others around you, for city and regional impact, and for Kingdom building. I pray you will see with greater clarity so you may be a wise master builder according to His blueprints. We are living in changing times and experiencing greater challenges. But there is good news. We do not have to peer through the lens of adversity or hard times darkly. Neither should we grope our way through hardship, veer off to the highway of destiny, or even engage survival mode in these times. Rather, we can stand strong and brave because, as Spirit-filled believers, we have God-given eyes to see through the night what others cannot! The apostle Paul says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18 NIV). Likewise, James tells us, “If any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass” (James 1:23 KJV). In other words, we cannot give up but must continue to be people of action who fix our eyes on the unseen, believing in and having assurance of its existence. The measure of adversity we face today is great, but it is also indicative of the incredible opportunity available to believers. Today we do not have to blindly call things forth and wish with all of our might that these things will happen; rather, we can see through the tough stuff and the climate of the day to actual solutions—some of which have not yet been discovered, thought of, or tried—and see the incredible plans and opportunities of God. You and I have an advantage! Our advantage is our spiritual eyesight, which—by reason of use and, of course, the precious Holy Spirit—we can learn to see through our circumstances into ways we may have never seen before. Spiritual eyesight gives an advantage to Christians to see in the heavenly realm what unbelievers cannot see. We look at the world with our natural eyes, but with our spiritual eyes, we look at the Kingdom of God! In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit moved upon the prophets of God, giving them the ability to see in the spirit. Elisha knew by faith what was outside and assured his despairing servant that, though he saw with his physical eyes the enemy surrounding them, they were not outnumbered. Then Elisha prayed that his servant’s eyes would be open to see what he knew to be true, the mountains full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding them (see 2 Kings 6:15). Sure enough, the servant’s spiritual eyes opened to the realm of the Spirit, and he was able to see the scope of their salvation. Not only that, but as the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, He struck the enemy with blindness. I love that. Under the New Testament Covenant, the Holy Spirit is in all of God’s people and available, by His power, to help us see what we otherwise cannot see and what the unsaved cannot see. The apostle Paul explained it to the Corinthians this way: But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.—2 Corinthians 4:3–4 We do not live as the spiritually blind do. We want the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ to shine on us ever brighter, illuminating greater knowledge and greater understanding of His marvelous plans and purposes. God’s desire is to fill our hungry hearts so that we may do exceedingly and abundantly above what we can think or ask. It is true that we walk by faith and not by sight (see 2 Cor. 5:7); faith actually opens our spiritual eyes. What is faith? The writer of Hebrews gave this famous definition of faith: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." Hebrews 11:1–3 The Conviction of Our Reality The Amplified Bible explains faith as “the conviction of our reality.” The more we see those unseen things in the spirit, the greater the realm of faith for our circumstances will be. Remember again how Elisha answered his terrified servant. “They that be with us are more than they that be with them” (KJV)! Elisha was already aware of the protection the Lord had encamped around them. He wanted to reassure his servant of the reality of the Lord watching over them. Elisha was not moved by the natural because he was anchored in faith in the Lord because of what the Lord let him see. I believe seeing in the spirit, for Elisha, was a natural thing, second nature. By reason of use, he could see the things he needed to with the eyes of his heart and understanding. I am convinced we can train our spiritual eyes to see as naturally as we do with our physical eyes, as naturally as we take a breath, without even thinking about it. Natural eyes only see the surface of things—present realities, the appearance of things as they are in the world. The Lord has given us our physical eyes that are marvels of creation. For example, the retina can take in light at the incredible speed of light, which travels at about 186,000 miles each second—roughly a million times faster than sound travels and fast enough to circle the Earth more than seven times in one second! How great God is to have conceived the intricacies of vision. The wonders of the eye are the product of the wisdom, skill, and creativity of God, and they baffle scientists even today. It would take a watch over twenty-three years to tick as many times as the nerves in the retina vibrate when receiving various colors. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made! As They Really Are By the power of the Holy Spirit, because of the blood of Jesus and our redemption in Him, God allows us to see what our natural eyes cannot; He allows us to see beyond the surface and into the reality of things as they really are according to God’s plan, work, and good purposes. The moment we enter into a new relationship with our Creator through Christ Jesus, we experience a new birth. This, like natural birth, is a process. Gradually, as God opens our spiritual eyes to see what we could not see before, we start to use our eyes. Where once we could only construe surface meaning in the words and stories of the Bible, for instance, we are now able to go deep enough, into the breadth, width, and depth of it, to see in greater dimension and vastness the wonder, beauty, and glory in His Word. In the natural, the Bible is a great history and story book, but in the spiritual, the Light illumines; the Scriptures come alive in a meaningful way. Words, truths, promises, instruction, revelation, nature, and history open up with spiritual significance, direction, and insight. With God’s supernatural help, we can behold every wonderful thing He has for us. Of course, such vision gives us understanding of our situations and faith for the seemingly impossible—an advantage to help us accomplish the smallest and the greatest feats and exploits in Jesus’ name, despite insurmountable worldly odds. When John the Baptist saw Jesus for the first time, he had eyes to see Jesus for who He really was, the Son of Man. A casual observer—like one of us, had we been there that day—may have seen Jesus as an unremarkable, plain, dusty, and modest-looking thirty-something-year-old man. Perhaps some there did not notice Him at all. The Bible tells us in the Book of Isaiah that nothing in His appearance would have necessarily attracted someone to Him. Jesus was born into a humble carpenter’s family in the small farming town of Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, a town scorned by the elitists of the day as a place of nothing good. Then one day He showed up where John was, at the Jordon River in northern Israel, an obscure and desolate location in the wilderness. And immediately, John saw Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. How did John do that? He had eyes to see what the world could not. The Father had opened them when He designated John as the one who would prepare the way for His Son. John would point Jesus out to the world. The Father actually allowed onlookers to see things as He saw them, through Jesus’ baptism and anointing into ministry. They saw more than just the dunking of a man into a muddy river. “This is My Son,” He said, “The Holy One of Israel.” The heavens opened and they saw the very Spirit of God descend and alight upon Jesus as a dove. (See Matthew 3:17.) In that moment, God revealed the perfection of the distinct Persons of the Trinity in a great and profound demonstration of Himself as the loving Father, Jesus as the Son and the Savior of the World, and the precious Holy Spirit in His gentleness and power. Wow—what a powerful glimpse! Abundant Glory Blessings to you, Keith & Janet Miller |
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