Category Archives: The Bible

The Bible

God Speaks to Samuel

God Speaks to Samuel

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Let’s read from the third chapter of I Samuel 3:1, “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli, and the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” It is interesting that the writer would say that the Word of the LORD was rare. God was not speaking much in that day because the hearts of the people were far from Him.  I have heard people comment, “It doesn’t seem like the Lord is speaking, and when I read the Word it’s not living and real to me.” Number one, when our hearts are not open to God and the things of God, and we really don’t want to listen, then God doesn’t speak that much.  Secondly, when God knows we aren’t going to obey what He says, He is not obligated to speak to us.

God’s Word was rare in those days because the priesthood was polluted and the people were being led astray.  God began to speak to Samuel, but Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord in a real way. God called to Samuel, “Samuel, Samuel”.  Samuel said, “Here am I”, but he thought it was Eli who was speaking to him.  The Lord was speaking to Samuel, yet Samuel didn’t recognize it was the Lord speaking to him. The Lord continued to call out to Samuel, and Samuel kept going to Eli asking, “Didn’t you call me?”  Finally Eli got the picture that it was probably the Lord who was calling Samuel. He instructed Samuel, “Samuel,  if you hear that again, it must be the Lord speaking to you, so just say, ‘Speak Lord, Thy servant hears’.”  God called Samuel again and Samuel responded as Eli had instructed him, “Speak Lord, Thy servant hears.”

Samuel was telling the Lord that he was ready to listen to what He had to say.  He was saying, “Speak, Lord. I am Your servant. I am here to do whatever You want me to do.” I believe those are the two conditions for hearing God speak. Number one, you need an ear to hear, and number two, a heart to obey and to do what God wants done. Samuel did not know the Lord, but he was in the process of learning to recognize the voice of God. When Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for Thy Servant hears”, this indicated he had an ear to hear, and a heart to obey what God was speaking to Him.

His Loving Kindness is Eternal

Sunset Over Water

Sunset Over Water

The best Bible verse on this subject is: 1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; For his lovingkindness endures for ever.   Our kindness and love seems to have limits, but God does not have limits. He is God, the creator of the heavens and earth and is full of energy.

Trees in the Bible

There are many places in the Bible that talk about trees. Let’s start with the two most significant. This picture is one of the most beautiful trees I photographed while in Israel about two years ago.  Over 100 Bible verses mention or use, the word “tree“.

Beautiful Tree in Israel

Beautiful Tree in Israel, Near the Sea of Galilee

Psalms 52:8, But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.

Psalms 104:16, The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.

Isaiah 55:12, … shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Galatians 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

The tree of life is first mentioned in Genesis chapter 2. Then the last mention is in the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22.   Genesis 2:9, And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Revelation 22:2, In the midst of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that side, the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, in each month yielding its fruit; and the leaves of the tree for healing of the nations.

The next passage I want to talk about is John 15:1-2, where the word “tree” is not mentioned, but John does use the word, “vine”.  To me the words “tree” and “vine” are closely related.   John 15:1-2.  “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”  John uses the words vine, vinedresser, branch and fruit.

To me the vine and tree indicates that God wants us to have an intimate close relationship with Him so that our Christan life flows out of His life. More about this later. But in John 15:7 is a great Bible verse on prayer, “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall come to pass to you”.

John 15:16, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and have set you that ye should go and that ye should bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Notice the relationship between “tree“and “fruit” in Matthew.  Matthew 12:33, Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

Here are some more great Bible verses which contain the word “tree“.

Revelation 22:19, And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Revelation 2:7, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of  the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Two Trees, Chorazin Israel

Two Beautiful Trees, Chorazin, Israel

Evening at Sunset

seagull into the sunset

seagull into the sunset – soaring while resting

We should soar in the Lord while we are resting in Him.

Deuteronomy 16:6 …at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7 And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose. — a great verse on the place the Lord chooses.

The photo taken on the Oregon coast at Cannon Beach. One seagull standing on railing of our seaside patio.

The Bible Leads People to Jesus Christ

Bible Book of Revelation - Mediterranean Sea off Israel

Bible Book of Revelation – Mediterranean Sea off Israel.
The book of Revelation was written by John on the Island of Patmos about 600 miles east of where this picture was taken.

The Bible Leads People to Jesus Christ

What is the book of Revelation all about? Why would we want to study this book? Well, I mentioned before that the book of Revelation is a proper conclusion to the Bible, but that is not really why it is there. When I was putting the outline of this book together I was concerned about giving the proper message and about how I could help you understand this book. There are twenty two chapters. There are a lot of mysterious things in this book. It talks about prophecy, antichrists and tribulations. There is a city at the end of the book called,” the New Jerusalem”. You have God’s judgment on the world, a lot of heavy and kind of mysterious things. I wondered how I could present these matters, but when I got into this book I discovered that the focus or central theme of this book is really about a person, about Jesus Christ.
When I looked at the Greek version of the book of Revelation I noticed that the first three Greek words are, “Revelation, Jesus Christ.” That means the focus of this book is not prophecy and tribulation although those things are covered. The main point of this book is not even the mysterious things. The main point of this book is Jesus Christ. So if you really want to understand this book, and see it for what it really means, you need to see this person, Jesus Christ.
Let’s talk about another place in the Bible where Jesus Himself gave a real indication that the Scriptures, the Bible, should point people to Christ. I don’t know if you remember the time in John 5 Jesus was talking to the religious people. He rebuked them and said, “You search, research and study the Bible but you won’t come to Me.” This indicates that those religious people knew the Bible, they studied the Bible and they knew about the things in the Bible. They could probably quote a lot of verses, and yet when the Son of God, Jesus Christ was right there in front of them, they wouldn’t come to Him! A lot of times this can happen to us. We may have heard stories from the Bible or we, ourselves, may have read it or parts of it. I have heard of people who picked up the Bible and read parts of it, and that was it! Well, the Bible should lead people to Christ. The Bible should lead people to know Christ and to experience Christ. If your reading and study of the Bible, or your memorization of some Bible stories and verses doesn’t lead you to Jesus Christ, then the purpose for doing so has been defeated. This John 5 passage is very important. Jesus told the religious leaders, “You guys have searched the Scriptures because you think you are going to find life (and you should find life), but you won’t come to Me that you might have life.” In other words when we read the Bible, when we read the Scriptures, this should lead us to know Jesus Christ in a real and living way.

John 15 – Abiding in the Lord and How to Pray

John 15 – Abiding in the Lord and How to Pray video’s are now posted on YouTube and Vimeo.

John 15:7 says, “If you abide in Me”, that is, if you are following the Lord, remaining in the Lord, doing what God wants you to do, and you are up to date with your obedience to God, and, “My words abide in you”, then you can ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. What does this mean?

What Happens When I Die

What Happens When I Die

There is a day on the calendar when we are appointed to die. God knows the day. He gives life and He takes life. We try to extend life with diets, exercise, and doctors, but life and death is in the hand of God.  The day of our birth and death is set by God, not me. The fact is that all of us are born, we die and we all pay taxes. None of us choose when we are born and when we die. Everybody faces God.  After death we all face God to determine eternity. Some for eternal rewards some for eternal punishment.

So what happens when I die?  When we die, we at some point will face God to give an account for our life.

1. For the believer it is to inherit eternal life.
2. For the un-believer it is to receive eternal punishment.

Here are some verses from the Bible on death and what what happens after we die.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting contempt.
John 3:36  He that believes on the Son has life eternal, and he that is not subject to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.
Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as hand- breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before thee; verily, every man, even the high placed, is altogether vanity.

When we die, we at some point, will face God to give an account for our life.

1. For Believers, there is the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Romans 14:10 But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou make little of thy brother? for we shall all be placed before the judgment- seat of God.

The judgment seat of Christ does not determine our eternal destiny; that issue is decided the moment we receive Christ. Knowing that in the future we will stand before Jesus Christ and face a personal review of our lives should always motivate us to love the Lord, grow in the Lord, obey the Lord, live righteously and live faithfully in the present.

2. For un-believers, there is the Great White Throne.

The “Great White Throne” judgment described in Rev. 20:11–15 is for unbelievers. This final exam for all un-believers is a picture of God’s holy rule and requirements.

20:15 Only God’s elect, those whose names are written in the Book of Life, will escape the lake of fire. To be written in the book of life is to believe on Jesus for eternal life.

Man has Three Parts – spirit and soul and body

Man Has Three Parts

Now everything that is designed or built today has a specific purpose.  An automobile, for example, is designed to be a comfortable vehicle for travel.  Just like a car has parts and functions, you can also say a man has parts and functions as well.  The beginning of the Bible reveals to us the three main parts and functions of man:  body, soul, and spirit.  Let’s put a diagram on the board to represent these three parts. First of all, we’ll draw a large circle to represent man’s body. Second, we’ll draw another circle inside that, representing man’s soul. Third, we’ll draw a circle inside that to represent man’s human spirit.  In the beginning of the Bible when God describes how He created man, He tells how He formed man out of the dust of the earth. Then it says that God breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul. This passage shows us the three parts of man.  Now it says that God breathed into man the breath of life. This phrase, “breath of life” can also be translated, “spirit of life”. Now another place in the Bible says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord”. So we see that man has three parts. Later in the Bible, the Apostle Paul also mentions these three parts. He is praying for the sanctification of believers.  He prays that God would, “Sanctify us wholly—our whole being; our body, and our spirit and our soul.”