God's purpose for the earth

What does the Bible show to be God's purpose regarding the earth?

Matt. 6:10: "Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth."

 Ps. 37:29: "The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it."

Matthew 5:5  :  "Happy are the mild-tempered , for they shall inherit the earth"

2 Peter 3:13 : " We are awaiting new heavens and a new earth , and in these righteousness is to dwell ".

See also Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 104:5.

Is there a possibility that, since the nations show little regard for God's purpose, they might completely ruin the earth for habitation anyway?

Isa. 55:8-11: "[The utterance of Jehovah is:] As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. . . . My word . . . will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it."

Isa. 40:15, 26: "Look! [From the standpoint of Jehovah God] The nations are as a drop from a bucket; and as the film of dust on the scales they have been accounted. . . . 'Raise your eyes high up and see [the sun, the moon, and the billions of stars]. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing.'" (The nuclear power developed by the nations is fear inspiring to men. But billions of stars employ nuclear power on a scale that is beyond our ability to comprehend. Who created and controls all these heavenly bodies? Can He not prevent the nations from using their nuclear weapons in a way that would hinder his purpose? That God would do this is illustrated by his destroying the military power of Egypt when Pharaoh sought to stop the deliverance of Israel.—Ex. 14:5-31.)

Rev. 11:17, 18: "We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth."

Will God himself destroy the earth by fire?

Does 2 Peter 3:7, 10 (KJ) support that view? "The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in  store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition ["destruction," RS] of ungodly men. . . . The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up ["burned (burnt) up," RS, JB; "will vanish," TEV; "will be made manifest," NAB; "will be laid bare," NE; "will be discovered," NW]." (Note: The Codex Sinaiticus and Vatican MS 1209, both of the 4th century C.E., read "be discovered." Later manuscripts, the 5th-century Codex Alexandrinus and the 16th-century Clementine recension of the Vulgate, read "be burned up.")

Does Revelation 21:1 (KJ) indicate that our planet will be destroyed? "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." 

See also Revelation 11:18.

To be correct, the explanation of these verses must agree with the context and with the rest of the Bible

If these texts (2 Peter 3:7, 10 and Revelation 21:1) mean that the literal planet Earth is to be consumed by fire, then the literal heavens (the stars and other heavenly bodies) are also to be destroyed by fire. Such a literal view, however, conflicts with the assurance contained in such texts as Matthew 6:10, Psalm 37:29 and 104:5, also Proverbs 2:21, 22. Furthermore, what effect would fire have on the already intensely hot sun and stars? So the term "earth" in the above-quoted texts must be understood in a different sense.

At Genesis 11:1, First Kings 2:1, 2, First Chronicles 16:31, Psalm 96:1, etc., the term "earth" is used in a figurative sense, referring to mankind, to human society. Might that be the case at 2 Peter 3:7, 10 and Revelation 21:1?

Note that, in the context, at 2 Peter 3:5, 6 (also 2:5, 9), a parallel is drawn with the Flood of Noah's day, in which wicked human society was destroyed, but Noah and his household, as well as the globe itself, were preserved. Likewise, at 2 Peter 3:7 it says that the ones to be destroyed are "ungodly men." The view that "the earth" here refers to  wicked human society fully agrees with the rest of the Bible, as is illustrated by the texts cited above. It is that symbolic "earth," or wicked human society, that is "discovered"; that is, Jehovah will sear away as by fire all disguise, exposing the wickedness of ungodly human society and showing it to be worthy of complete destruction. That wicked society of humans is also "the first earth," referred to at Revelation 21:1 (KJ).

Consistently, Jesus' expression at Luke 21:33 ("heaven and earth will pass away, but . . . ") must be understood in the light of the parallel statement at Luke 16:17 ("it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than . . . "), both of which simply emphasize the impossibility of the situations presented.—See also Matthew 5:18.

Will the righteous be taken to heaven and then returned to earth after the wicked are destroyed?

Does Revelation 21:2, 3 support that view? It says: "I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: 'Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them.'" (Does the fact that God will "reside" with mankind and "be with them" mean that he will become a fleshly Being? That cannot be, because Jehovah told Moses: "No man may see me and yet live." [Ex. 33:20] Consistently, then, the members of the New Jerusalem will not return to earth as physical beings. In what sense, then, could God "be with" mankind and how would the New Jerusalem 'come down out of heaven'? No doubt an indication is found in Genesis 21:1, which says that God "visited" Sarah, blessing her with a son in her old age. Exodus 4:31 tells us that God "visited" Israel by sending Moses as a deliverer. Luke 7:16 says that by means of Jesus' ministry God "visited" his people. [All from KJ and RS] Other translations use the expression God "turned his attention" to his people [NW] or 'showed concern' for them [NE]. So Revelation 21:2, 3 must mean that God will 'visit,' or be with, mankind by means of  the heavenly New Jerusalem, through which blessings will come to obedient humans.)

Prov. 2:21, 22, KJ: "The upright shall dwell in the land ["on earth," NE], and the perfect ["blameless men," NE] shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." (Notice that it does not say the blameless will return to the earth but that they "shall remain in it.")

Has God's original purpose for the earth changed?

Gen. 1:27, 28: "God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God's image he created him; male and female he created them. Further, God blessed them and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.'" (Thus God indicated his purpose to have the earth filled with the offspring of Adam and Eve as caretakers of a global paradise. After God had magnificently designed this earth for human habitation, making it unique among all the planets that man has examined with his telescopes and spaceships, did the Creator simply abandon his purpose, leaving it forever unfulfilled because of Adam's sin?)

Isa. 45:18: "This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: 'I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.'" (See also Isaiah 55:10, 11.)  See also Matthew 5:5 and 2 Peter 3:13, quoted above.

If no one is ever going to die in God's New Order, how will all the people fit on earth?

Keep in mind that when God expressed his purpose for the earth he said: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth." (Gen. 1:28) God gave man the ability to procreate, and when His purpose in that regard is fulfilled He can cause procreation to cease on earth.

 What kind of people will God favor with endless life on earth?

Zeph. 2:3: "Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger."

Ps. 37:9, 11: "Those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. . . . The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.

See also Matthew 5:5.

Satan does NOT stay on his own lane.

Whenever a criminal is caught red-handed, he almost always blames the Devil for his actions and expects to be left off the hook because of that. At the other extreme, some people claim that Satan is not to be blamed at all for people's misdeeds. They say Satan stays on his own lane before being toyed with by people.

What does the Bible say?  

In the Garden of Eden, God blamed both man and the Devil (Genesis 3: 1-24). Man was to blame for disobeying the orders of God, "the Most High" (Psalm 83:18) because of Satan, a fallen angel (Job 1:6 ; 2:1 & 38: 4-7). You don't disobey your parents because of your older sibling, do you?   

However, God didn't absolve the Devil (who was created before Adam and Eve and is therefore older) from all blame (Genesis 3: 14-15). Revelation 12:9 calls Satan "the original serpent . . . who is misleading the entire inhabited earth", including Adam and Eve. 1 Peter 5:8 says " the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone" and James 4:7 urges us to oppose him to make him flee from us. These verses show that Satan DOESN'T stay on his own lane. He was wandering about the earth in Job 1:7 & 2:2. Those who stumble others will end up worse than someone thrown into the sea with a milestone hung round his neck (Luke 17:2). Accordingly, Satan will be destroyed along with those he manages to deceive (Revelation 20: 7- 15). 

DID YOU NOTICE THESE THINGS ABOUT JESUS' BIRTH?

 

1. The genealogies of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-16 & Luke 3: 23-38 diverged from David to Jesus Christ. One passed through Solomon (Mt 1:6) and the other through Nathan (Luke 3:31). Both Solomon & Nathan were David's sons by Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 3:5). Joseph (Jesus' stepfather) has 2 "fathers", Jacob & Heli (mentioned at Matthew 1:16 & Luke 3:23 respectively). The "fathers" have different ancestors all the way to David, & therefore can't be the same person. One of them must be Joseph's FATHER-in-law (or Mary's father).

2. Both Mary & Joseph were from the tribe of Judah. Though they were based in Nazareth, both had to travel to Bethlehem to "register in their own city" (Luke 1: 26,27 & 3: 1-5). Jesus had to be both biologically (through Mary) & socially (or patrilinearly, through Joseph) from Judah (Micah 5:2).

3. There were 2 towns named Bethlehem in Israel then. One was in the tribe of Judah (Ruth 1:1) in Judea (Matthew 2:1), while the other was in the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:10-16) in Galilee (Matthew 4:15). That's why Micah 5:2 was specific. 

4. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus' parents offered a "poor man's offering" of 2 turtledoves (Leviticus 12: 6-8; Luke 2 : 21-24). This is well before the astrologers came with their costly gifts.  

5. Jesus was almost 2 years old when the astrologers came from the East. Shortly after they left, Jesus' parents had to flee to Egypt with him. Note that his just-6-months-older cousin , John the Baptizer, (who was also in Judea) (Luke 1: 36-40) escaped the massacre of "boys aged 2 years & under" (Matthew 2:16) without having to relocate. There must have been official birth (& death) registration records to guide the soldiers against the desperate mothers' understandable lies. 

6. The star did not lead the astrologers to Jesus in Bethlehem directly, but first took them to murderous Herod (who would have killed Jesus, but for God's intervention) in Jerusalem. Note that the angels and the shepherds did not tell Herod about Jesus earlier. Satan must have used the star to endanger Jesus. 

7. There are 2 other persons named Jesus in the Bible apart from Jesus Christ (Luke 3:29 ; Colossians 4:11). Therefore, it is not a sin to name your son Jesus (as long as you don't call him MESSIAH or CHRIST). 

8. Mary was not sinless ; she did purification after childbirth like any other Jewish woman (Leviticus 12: 6-8; Luke 2 : 21-24 ; Romans 3:23). It was the Holy Spirit that shielded Jesus from contamination in the womb (Luke 1:35). 

9. Zechariah's doubting of Angel Gabriel's message (despite the precedent of Abraham and Sarah) led to his being made dumb for some time. Mary's doubt was understandable because no virgin had ever given birth without sex before. Hence, the angel patiently explained things to her. 

10. Mary wasn't a virgin for life. After giving birth to Jesus, she had 4 sons & at least 2 daughters for Joseph (Matthew 1:25 & 13: 53-56).

THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT (MATTHEW 28: 19,20)

A man and his wife become "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Yet ,they remain 2 separate individuals and "the head of a woman is her husband" (1 Corinthians 11:3). Similarly, the oneness of God and Jesus (John 10:30) means unity of purpose and does not make them the same person or equals. Jesus is the "beginning of all creation" (Revelation 3:14), God's first creature, whom he used to create everybody and everything else (Colossians 1: 15-16). He is one of the angels God made before he created the earth (Job 38:4-7 ; John 17:5). God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit appeared as separate individuals at Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:16-17). Jesus Christ himself said, "The Father is greater than I" and called his Father "the only true God" (John 14:28 ; 17:3). Jehovah himself said, "Besides me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6 ; Psalm 83:18).1 Corinthians 11:3 also says, "the head of Christ is God".

1 Corinthians 8: 6 says,"There is actually to us one God, the Father,... and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ". See also 1 Timothy 2:5. After his 1,000-year reign (Revelation 20:1-6), Jesus Christ will hand over the kingdom to his God and Father (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

What about the Holy Spirit? 

* The Holy Spirit , "the power of the Most High", came upon Mary and overshadowed her while she was pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:35). 

*It came upon Jesus during his baptism (Matthew 3: 16-17).

*Jesus blew on his disciples and said, "Receive the holy spirit" (John 20:22-23).

*The holy spirit is known but not seen by Christ's disciples (John 14: 16-17) and will remind them and us about all the things Christ said (John 14:26).

*After the 120 disciples received the holy spirit at Pentecost, it was Peter and the other apostles (not the holy spirit) who spoke verbally to the people (Acts 2:1-36). 

* The holy spirit didn't write a single book in the Bible, lay hands on anyone or travel to visit anyone as Paul and the other disciples did. "Men spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit" (2 Peter 1:21 ; 1 Peter 1:11-12). See also Exodus 31: 1-3; Numbers 11: 16-30; Judges 14:19 ; 15:14 ; Psalm 51:11 ; Ezekiel 37: 1-10; Luke 11:13 ; Acts 2:4; 5:32 ; 7:55-56 ; 8: 14-17 ; 10 : 44-48 and 19: 1-7 . The holy spirit can be distributed among many persons without any loss to the person doing the impartation (e.g. John 20: 22-23 ; Acts 8: 14-17 ; 10 : 44-48 and 19: 1-7) . God says, "I will pour out SOME OF MY SPIRIT on every sort of flesh" (Acts 2:17). 

Therefore, the holy spirit is God's active force that He uses to achieve His purposes (Luke 1:35). While Jehovah God (Psalm 83:18) and Jesus Christ are in heaven (Acts 7:55-56), the holy spirit is inhabiting many persons (including God and Jesus) in both heaven and the earth. 

The "jinxed" single mother who produced the Messiah.

Mary got pregnant without having sex, but God convinced Joseph to marry her (Matthew 1:18-25). They later had at least 6 children together (Matthew 13:53-56). Therefore, she is not the single mother I have in mind.

The woman I am talking about is Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law (whose story is recorded in Genesis chapter 38 in the Bible).

Judah had 3 sons : Er, Onan and Shelah. Er (the oldest) was Tamar's first husband. After God killed Er for being wicked, Judah told Onan (the second son) to marry the still-childless Tamar in order to raise up offspring for his late brother. Onan had nothing to lose, since he could still marry any other woman he likes along with Tamar. Polygamy was allowed then. However, he "wasted his semen on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother". God killed him too for this. He could also have declined marrying her (as Ruth's nearest male in-law did and allowed someone else, Boaz, to marry her) - Ruth 4:1-10; Deuteronomy 25.5-10. Onan was killed for being a dog in the manger.

Judah told Tamar to go back to her father's house until Shelah grows up, but he didn't really intend to "waste" his only remaining son on a "jinxed" woman (since he didn't know it was God who killed the two sons). 

When Tamar saw that Shelah had grown up without her being sent for and that Judah (now widowed like her) was going to pass through her area on his way to a feast, she veiled her face and sat by the roadside like a prostitute. Judah fell into the trap and got her pregnant. She collected his seal ring, cord and rod as security (for the goat he promised to send) before the act. Thereafter, she left the streets and couldn't be located to return the items when the goat was ready. 

The items identified Judah as the owner of the pregnancy and saved her from being hanged for "prostitution" (i.e. sleeping with another man without having been given a "discharge certificate" by her late husband's family). Judah acknowledged being in the wrong for neither letting Shelah marry her nor telling her to find another man outside their family. He didn't sleep with her again after that, let alone marry her.

She gave birth to twin boys, Perez and Zerah. Perez became an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1: 3,16; Luke 3:23, 33). God understands extenuating circumstances (1 Samuel 16:9; Psalm 7:9) and didn't condemn her for her unusual action in getting herself a child. Shelah too lived and prospered (1 Chronicles 4:21-23) while Onan did not leave any child behind. He didn't have any child from an earlier woman.  

Beware of the snare of Balaam (2).

Balaam himself was a victim of obstinacy and greed. He "loved the reward of wrongdoing" (2 Peter 2:15; Jude:11). 

When Balak first sent his messengers to him, God told him not to follow them to curse Israel (a nation He has blessed) and he complied. When Balak later sent a more powerful delegation with mouth-watering promises, Balaam refused to take God's earlier "No" for an answer and asked the delegation to stay overnight for him to learn what else God will say. God grudgingly allowed him to go with them and waylaid him before warning him to say only what He tells him to say there. 

Thrice , Balak built 7 altars and offered 7 bulls and 7 rams on them. Each time, Balaam stepped aside to seek God's face and God made him bless Israel instead of cursing them. This annoyed Balak and he sent him away . (Read Numbers chapters 22-24). 

Balaam "loved the reward of wrongdoing", though he was too smart to curse Israel so as not to be struck down by God. So he sponsored Moabite and Midianite women to lure Israel into sin so that God will punish them Himself (Revelation 2:14; Numbers 31:15,16). Though his plot succeeded, God led Israel to attack Midian and he was killed there (Numbers 31:1-8).

The Bible says at 1 Timothy 6:10, " The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows". Greediness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). 

Though Balaam was not an Israelite, he enjoyed God's favour until the love of money led him astray. (Contrast Balaam with Job, another non-Israelite who found favour with God till the end of his life). May we not end up like Balaam.

"OBEY GOD AS RULER RATHER THAN MEN" (ACTS 5:29)

The Bible exhorts husbands to love their wives, wives to submit to their husbands, children to obey their parents and everyone in general to submit to people in authority (Ephesians 5: 21-33 & 6:1-9; Romans 13:1-7). Are there no limits to these laws? 

🔯 The first man Adam loved his wife so much that he ate the forbidden fruit she offered him. God blamed him for listening to the voice of his wife to the detriment of keeping His laws (Genesis 3:17-19). Listening to your wife is not a sin (as can be seen in the cases of Abraham at Genesis 21:8-13 and the Shunammite woman of 2 Kings 4:8-10) but don't go against God's laws.   

🔯 Jezebel was a very caring wife. She told Ahab, " Why are you so sad that you refuse to eat?" and got him Naboth's vineyard after killing Naboth and his sons (1 Kings 21:1-29 ; 2 Kings 9:26). Ahab was the worst human being as at then, "egged on by his wife Jezebel"(1 Kings 21:25). At the end of the day, the couple, their 70 sons and all of Ahab's relatives in Israel were wiped out (1 Kings 21:20-26 & 22:37-40; 2 Kings 9:22-37 & 10:1-11,17). Even their daughter Athaliah , who had married away into Judah's royal family (2 Kings 8:16-18,24 and 11:1), killed most of her own children and grandchildren before being executed (2 Kings 11:1-16). Contrast Jezebel with Abigail, who used godly wisdom to save her family from annihilation (1 Samuel chapter 25). 

🔯 The young prophet at 1 Kings 13 disobeyed God's clear commands and paid dearly for it because an older prophet said,"An angel told me to bring you to my house to eat and drink". How can God tell you to do something, an "angel" (or demon) will "tell" somebody to make you do the opposite and you will obey the human being? Why not pray to God for confirmation? Deuteronomy 13:1-3 warns us against prophets who try to make us disobey God ,even if their signs or portents come true. Eve ignored God's command and listened to the serpent (the Devil in disguise) - Genesis 3:1-7; Revelation 12:9. God did not spare her for being fooled by a fallen angel. "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

 

📣 Nobody should be so important or dear to you to make you offend God. No wonder Jesus said at Matthew 5: 29-30, "If your eye or hand is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than for your whole body to land in hell". Since our bodies are God's temples which are not to be destroyed ( 1 Corinthians 3:16-17), Jesus is telling us to abandon evil associations (1 Corinthians 15:33) here. Where no Bible principle is violated, obey your superiors and consider the feelings of your equals and subordinates. But never displease God to please ANY human being.

The equations of life.

LIFE is like a line segment drawn from a point B (Birth) to a point D (Death).
So life starts from the moment we are born until the day we die.

But in the middle of B(Birth) and D(Death) is a mysterious C (Christ). If we put Christ in the middle of our lives(Birth➡Christ➡Death), our lives will not end at D but will extend to E (Eternal life). All those who put Christ in the middle of their lives have eternal life after death. Those who do not put Christ in the middle of their lives don't have eternal life after death but they have F(Fire).

Therefore, the mathematical equation (or definition of life) for Christians is :
B + C + D = E   (i.e.
Birth + Christ + Death = Eternal Life).
The mathematical equation (or definition of life) for unbelievers  is :
(B - C ) + D = F
, i.e. Birth - Christ + Death = Fire.

Anyone who avoids C must surely lose E.

Please check the following scriptural references:   John 3:16,17 & 5:34 ; Acts 4:12 ;
1 John 5:11-13 ; Rev 20:11-15.

Life after delivery.

Two babies were in a mother's womb . One asked the other, "Do you believe in life after delivery?"

The other replied, "Of course I do. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later."

"Nonsense," said the first. "There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?"

The second said, "I don't know but there will be more  light there  than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat with our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can't understand now."

The first replied, "That is absurd. Walking is impossible and eating with our mouths is ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. Since the umbilical cord is very short, life after delivery is to be logically excluded."

The second insisted, "Well, I think there is something and maybe it's different from what it is here. Maybe we won't need this physical cord anymore."

The first replied, "Nonsense. If there is life, why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life. After delivery, there is nothing but darkness, silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere."

"Well, I don't know," said the second, "but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us."

The first replied, "Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That's laughable. If Mother exists ,then where is she now?"

The second said, "She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of her. It is in her that we live. Without her, this world would not and could not exist."

The first said, "Well, I don't see her so it is only logical that she doesn't exist."

The second replied, "Sometimes when you're in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive her presence and you can hear her loving voice calling down from above."

................................................................

Maybe this is one of the best explanations of the concept of GOD.

70 Biblical facts about alcohol.

(1) Noah became drunk and exposed his nakedness (Genesis 9:20-26).

(2) Lot was so drunk he did not
know what he was doing & slept with his daughters.(Genesis 19:30-38).

(3)God commanded priests not to
drink so that they could tell the difference between
the holy and the unholy (Leviticus 10:9-11).

(4)The Nazarites were told to eat or
drink nothing from the grape vine (Numbers 6:3).

(5) A drunken, stubborn
and rebellious  son was to be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 21:20,21).

(6) God gave Israel no  intoxicating drink in the
wilderness (Deuteronomy 29:5-6).

(7)Intoxicating wine is like the
poison of serpents (Deuteronomy 32:33).

(8) Samson was to be a Nazarite
for life. His mother was told not to drink wine or
strong drink (Judges 13:4, 7, 14).

(9) Accused, Hannah said she
drank no wine (1 Samuel 1:14-15).

(10)Nabal died after a drunken
spree (1 Samuel 25:32-38).

(11) By getting Uriah drunk, David
hoped to cover his sin (2 Samuel 11:13).

(12) Amnon was drunk when he
was killed (2 Samuel 13:28-29).

(13) King Elah of Israel was drunk when he was assassinated (1 Kings 16:8-10).

(14)Ben-Hadad and 32 other kings
were drinking when they were attacked and defeated
by the Israelites (1 Kings 20:1,12-21).

(15) The Philistines were half-drunk when Samson pulled down the building on them and himself (Judges 16:23-31).

(16) The Lord's anger is pictured as
mixed wine poured out and drunk by the wicked (Psalm 75:8).

(17) Alcoholic drink is called the wine
of violence (Proverbs 4:17).

(18) Wine is a mocker(Proverbs 20:1).

(19)A wise person will not be
among the drinkers of alcoholic beverages (Proverbs 23:19-20).

(20)Drunkenness causes poverty (Proverbs 23:21).

(21) Drinking causes woe, sorrow,
fighting, babbling, wounds without cause and red
eyes (Proverbs 23:29-30).

(22)God instructs us not to look at
intoxicating drinks (Proverbs 23:31).

(23) Alcoholic drinks bite like a
serpent (Proverbs 23:32).

(24) Alcohol causes the drinker to
have strange and adulterous thoughts, produces
willfulness, and prevents reformation  (Proverbs 23:33).

(25)Alcohol makes the drinker
unstable (Proverbs 23:34).

(26)Alcohol makes the drinker
insensitive to pain so he does not perceive it as a
warning. Alcohol is habit forming (Proverbs 23:35).

(27) Kings, princes, and others who
rule and judge must not drink alcohol because it
perverts good judgment (Proverb 31:4-5).

(28) A land is blessed when its
leaders do not drink (Ecclesiastes 10:17).

(29) Woe to those who get up early and stay up late at night to get drunk (Isaiah 5:11-12).

(30) Woe to "champion" drinkers and
"experts" at mixing drinks (Isaiah 5:22).

(31)Drunken men stagger in their
vomit (Isaiah 19:14).

(32) The Israelites choose to drink;
their future looks hopeless to them (Isaiah 22:12-13).

(33) Drinkers cannot escape the
consequences when God judges (Isaiah 24:9).

(34)God pronounces woe on the
drunkards of Ephraim (Isaiah 28:1).

(35) Proud drunkards shall be trodden
down (Isaiah 28:3).

(36) Priests and prophets stagger and
reel from beer and wine, err in vision, and stumble
in judgment (Isaiah 28:7).

(37)Drinkers'  tables are covered with
vomit and filth (Isaiah 28:8).

(38)Drinkers seek their own gain and
expect tomorrow to be just like today (Isaiah 56:9-12).

(39)The Rechabites drank no
intoxicating wine and were blessed (Jeremiah 35:2-14).

(40)Again, God instructed the priests
not to drink wine (Ezekiel 44:21).

(41) Daniel and his 3 friends refused the king's
intoxicating wine and were blessed for it (Daniel 1:5-17).

(42)Belshazzar, ruler of Babylon  (along with his nobles,
wives, and concubines) drank wine from the goblets which
had been taken from God's temple. That very night, Belshazzar was killed and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom (Daniel chapter 5) .

(43) Intoxicating wine takes away
intelligence (Hosea 4:11).

(44) God reproves princes for drinking (Hosea 7:5).

(45) Drunkards awake to see God's
judgment (Joel 1:5).

(46) The enemy is judged for selling girls for
wine (Joel 3:3).

(47) Unrighteous acts of Israel included
the drinking of wine which had been taken for the
payment of fines (Amos 2:8).

(48) Israel is condemned for forcing
Nazarites to drink wine (Amos 2:12).

(49) Israelites are eager to follow false
teachers who prophesy plenty of intoxicating drinks (Micah 2:11).

(50) The drunkards of Nineveh will be
destroyed by God (Nahum 1:10).

(51) A man is betrayed by wine (Habakkuk 2:5).

(52) Woe to him that gives his
neighbor drink (Habakkuk 2:15).

(53) Drinking leads to shame (Habakkuk 2:16 ).

(54) A drinking servant is
unprepared for his Lord's return (Matthew 24:48-51).

(55) John the Baptist drank neither grape
juice nor wine (Luke 1:15).

(56) Christ warned against drunkenness (Luke 12:45-47).

(57) Drunkenness will cause a person not
to be ready for the Lord's return (Luke 21:34).

(58) Do not walk in drunkenness or
immorality (Romans 13:13).

(59) Do not do anything that will hurt
your testimony as a believer (Romans 14:21).

(60) If a Christian brother is a
drinker, do not associate with him (1 Corinthians 5:11).

(61) Drunkards will not inherit the
kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).

(62)Sinful acts, such as
drunkenness, will prohibit a person from inheriting
the kingdom of God.(Galatians 5:21)

(63)In contrast to being drunk with
wine, the believer is to be filled with the Spirit  (Ephesians 5:18).

(64)Christians are to be alert
and self-controlled, belonging to the day. Drunkards
belong to the night and darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:6-7).

(65)Bishops (elders) are to be
temperate, sober, and not go near any wine (1 Timothy 3:2-3).

(66)Deacons are to be worthy of
respect and not drinkers (1 Timothy 3:8).

(67) An overseer is to be disciplined. He must not be a heavy drinker. (Titus 1:7-8).

(68) The older men and older women of
the church are to be temperate and not addicted to
wine (Titus 2:2-3).

(69) The past life of drunkenness and
carousing has no place in the Christian's life (1 Peter 4:3-4).

(70) Wine is associated with fornication and God's wrath (Revelation 14:8,10).

REMEMBER THAT NO DRUNKARD SHALL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF
GOD (1 COR. 6:10).
God loves you.

Is there punishment for repentance?

A popular Yoruba song (based on a faulty translation of Isaiah 33:1) says:

"Abanijẹ́ ènìyàn tó ń bà'yàn jẹ́ kiri,
Lọ́jọ́ to bá dẹ́kun àtibanijẹ́
La ó bà ọ́ jẹ́ o".
(i.e. O destroyer, the day you stop destroying others,you will be destroyed)

This can dissuade sinners from repentance and make them continue in
sin to evade nemesis.

What does the rest of the Bible say? Consider these examples.

* "If someone wicked turns away from all his sins and keeps my
statutes and does what is just and righteous,he will surely keep
living. He will not die. None of the sins he had committed will be
held against him. He will keep living for doing what is righteous"
(Ezekiel 18:21,22)
* "Joy arises among the angels of heaven over one sinner who repents"
(Luke 15:10)
*" Repent,therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted
out,so that seasons of refreshing may come from the Lord himself"
(Acts 3:19)
*"Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the
Kingdom of God. Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual
sins,idol worshippers,adulterers,male
prostitutes,homosexuals,thieves,greedy people,drunkards,abusers and
swindlers shall not have a share in the kingdom of God. And yet that
is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean,sanctified
and declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with
the spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

The above faulty rendition of Isaiah 33:1 in some Bible versions must
have arose from a poor understanding of the Biblical languages. The
Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew before being
translated to Greek,then Latin,...,English,etc. Before you can
translate correctly from one language to another,you must understand
both languages perfectly.

Isaiah 33:1 is properly translated as, "O destroyer, when you finish
destroying others,you will be destroyed".

The borrower is the slave of the lender (Proverbs 22:7)

Most of us use mobile phones and recharge them or borrow credit once
in a while. These mobile networks have a lot to teach us about the
evils of borrowing. Let me use Glo and Airtel as examples.


When you borrow N100 credit from Glo,you will be given only N85. That
is, N15 is charged as interest . If you use *323*pin# to load N100
credit, you will get an empty main balance plus N400 bonus, but Glo
will not deduct your debt from the bonus. It will wait for you to dial
*123*pin# (getting N100 instead of N400 ) before clearing your debt.
In short, you have lost N315 extra (N15 interest + N300 from bonus)
because you borrowed N100 from Glo.


The same applies to Airtel. Dialing *555*pin# gives you 6 times
your recharge as bonus, but Airtel will not deduct your N100 debt from
the N600 bonus. It will wait for you to dial *126*pin# (getting N100
instead of N600) . Mind you, you were given only N90 out of the N100
you borrowed. Therefore, the ripoff = N10 interest + N500 from bonus =
N510.


You can continue getting bonuses without paying your debt, but you
won't be allowed to borrow when you are in an emergency. It may be
months later, when you have forgotten the debt .


Let us try to avoid borrowing as much as we can. May God help us.

The bus stop doesn’t matter; your relationship with the driver does .

A boy stood on a sidewalk waiting for a bus.
A man walking by spotted the boy and gave him some gentle advice.
"Son," he said, "if you're waiting for the bus ,you need to move to
the street corner. That's where the bus stops for passengers."
"It's OK," said the boy. "I'll just wait right here and the bus will
stop for me."
The man repeated his advice, but the boy never moved.
Just then, the bus appeared.
Amazingly, the bus pulled over to where the boy stood and he hopped in.
The man on the sidewalk stood speechless.
The boy turned around in the doorway and said,
"Mister, I knew the bus would stop here, because the bus driver is my dad!"
When you've got a relationship with the bus driver, you don't need a bus stop.
If you've given your heart to the King of Kings, you're in a royal
family of unspeakable proportions.
Today I would like to remind you that when you know the Driver of your
life you can take the bus of life anywhere.
He will stop and pick you up where people think it is not possible.
Some are thinking that you are not in the right frame of mind, or the
right position or the right career to succeed but this will change
when the success giver is your father and friend.
Whether you are unemployed, broke, single or married, or childless or
divorced, or widowed.
What matters is that you know Him who is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above what we can think or even imagine.
However, the BIG question is :
"Is the Driver your Father?"
"Are you still His child? You can only get that privilege if He is your Father.
He can bypass protocols because you are His child.
He has done it before.
He can do it AGAIN and AGAIN.
And guess what?
It does not matter what anybody feels or thinks.
Enjoy the ride with your Father.

Beware of the spirit of rebellion

Why are some people naturally stubborn against God's will?

1. Adam and Eve ate the only fruit forbidden by God in the Garden of Eden.

2. God forbids incest ,bestiality and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:
6-23 & 20:10-21 ; Romans 1:26,27 ; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 & 6 :9-11). You
are free to marry from any tribe, race, etc as long as the person is
an unrelated member of the opposite sex (Acts 10:34,35),unlike the
ancient Israelites who were forbidden from marrying people of other
nations. Still, some people go for the forbidden types of sex and
marriage. Why?

3. Only human meat is forbidden by God (Genesis 9 :1-7 ).You can eat
any other type of meat? Why disobey?



If you are "inquisitive by nature", why don't you :


1. dip your hand into acid to be sure that it is corrosive?


2.taste your own urine and faeces?



Some people are so rebellious in nature that they will do thing they
don't normally do once it is forbidden. What moral right have they to
condemn Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit?

If you get what you want, will you want what you get?

According to Greek mythology, Midas was a king who lived in Phrygia in
the eighth century B.C. He was very wealthy and had more gold than
anyone else in the world. He stored the yellow coins and bars in huge
vaults underneath his palace and spent many hours each day handling
and counting his treasure.
But no matter how much gold Midas collected and put into his vaults,
it was not enough. He always wanted more, and he spent much of his
time dreaming about how to obtain still more gold.
One day a being dressed in white appeared to Midas and granted him a
wish. The king instantly
wished for the "golden touch"—that everything he touched would turn to gold.

The next morning when Midas woke up, he found that his plain linen
bedcovers had been transformed into finely spun gold! He gasped with
astonishment and jumped out of bed. Then he touched the bedpost, and
it turned to gold. "It's true," he cried. "I have the golden touch!"
He rushed through the palace, brushing against walls and furniture
along the way, all of which turned to gold at his touch.
Out in the garden, he went from bush to bush, touching roses and other
flowers, smiling as they turned to gold.

But the Midas myth doesn't end here with everyone living happily ever after.
Finally, tiring from the excitement of touching various items and
seeing them turn into gold, Midas sat down to read while he waited for
breakfast. But the book he picked up immediately turned to gold. Then
when he tried to eat a peach, a spoonful of porridge, and a piece of
bread, they each turned into hard golden lumps! Even the water in his
cup turned to gold.
The king grew alarmed. "If even my food turns to gold, how will I ever
eat again?" he worried. Just then, Midas' only daughter, Aurelia, came
into the room. She ran to her father, threw her arms around him, and
kissed him. Much to Midas' horror, she grew strangely still and turned
from a loving, laughing little girl into a golden statue.
The king howled in anguish, overcome by the horror of what was
happening before his very eyes. He had gotten what be asked for, but
he suddenly realized he didn't want what he was getting.

The being dressed in white suddenly reappeared and asked, "Well, King
Midas, are you not the happiest of men?"
"Oh, no," moaned the king, "I am the most miserable of all creatures."
"What? Did I not grant your wish for the golden touch?"
"Yes, but it is a curse to me now," Midas wept. "All that I truly
loved is now lost to me."
"Do you mean to say that you would prefer a crust of bread or a cup of
water to the gift of the golden touch?" asked the glowing white being.
"Oh, yes!" Midas exclaimed. "I would give up all the gold in the world
if only my daughter was restored to me."
According to the myth, the being dressed in white told Midas to go
bathe in a certain spring of water that would wash
away his golden touch. He was also to bring back some of the water to
sprinkle on his daughter and any other objects he wished to change
back to their original form.
So the legendary King Midas gladly gave up his golden touch and
rejoiced in the restoration of the simple things of life—
family, food, and natural beauty. Midas realized that these are the
things that have greater value than gold.
The truth is, we do not live in a fairy-tale world. There is no Midas
touch or magical formula for material success. But there are
opportunities for those who are willing to be diligent and faithful in
the work of their mind and hands.

Proverbs 27:20 says: "A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but
he that makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent".

It concerns you.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife open a mousetrap package. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse
announced, "There is a mousetrap in the house!There is a mousetrap in
the house!..." The chicken, the pig and the cow expressed their
sympathies for the mouse but said it doesn't concern them personally.

That night, the trap caught the tail of a venomous snake. The farmer's
wife went to check the trap in the darkness and got bitten. She was
rushed to the hospital and returned with a fever. The chicken was
killed to make soup for the woman's fever. When her sickness continued
and more people came to sit with her round the clock, the pig was
butchered to feed them. When she eventually died, the cow was killed
for her funeral.

The mouse survived while the It-doesn't-concern-me animals did not.
===========================
When next you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't
concern you, remember that an injury to one is an injury to all. We
must be our brother's keeper and make an extra effort to encourage one
another.

Where to keep your problems

If you keep your problems in your head, you may have a mental problem.

If you keep your problems in your mouth, you may become a talkative.

If you keep your problems to your heart, you may have a heart attack.

If you keep your problems in your house, you may have a broken home.

If you take your problems with you on a trip, you may have an accident.

If you keep your problems to yourself, you may die with them.

If you leave your problems with a friend, you are creating more problems.

If you ignore your problems, you may be postponing the evil day.

But if you leave your problems with Jehovah God and pray incessantly,
your problems will surely be solved.

A good-for-nothing garden

Contrary to its family's warning, a small mouse squeezed itself
through a small hole to enter a beautiful garden. The garden had no
other entrance or exit.

Greedily consuming sweet food, it gradually got too big to get out
of the garden. So it had to starve itself to get out. It later called
the garden a "good-for-nothing garden".

Like the garden in this story, we have brought nothing into this world
and we will bring nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

"He who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13)

To gain everlasting life, you have to keep doing God's will for the
rest of your life. Ezekiel 18:21-28 explains that when a wicked person
repents and becomes righteous, "none of the sins he had committed will
be remembered against him". Also, when a righteous person backslides
and becomes wicked, "all the righteousness which he has done shall not
be remembered". In other words, you will be judged on the basis of
your present behaviour, regardless of any glorious or dirty past.

Let's examine a few Bible examples in this regard.

1. Michal, David's first wife, protected him from being killed by her
father Saul (1 Samuel 19:11-18). After David's flight for his life,
Saul married her off to another man (1 Samuel 25:44). When David
became king, he regained her (2 Samuel 3:12-16) but she had changed
for the worse. She despised David to his face for dancing vigorously
before Jehovah. There was no record of her repentance in the Bible and
she died childless, regardless of her initial good deeds (2 Samuel
6:12-23).

2. Reuben started well by dissuading his brothers from killing Joseph
(Genesis 37:19-30). However, he lost his birthright as the first son
by sleeping with Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22;
49:1-4).

3. Rahab the prostitute kept the Israelite spies safe and was rewarded
by being saved with her family when Jericho fell. In addition, she
became an ancestress of our Lord Jesus Christ. She married Salmon and
bore Boaz, David's great-grandfather (Joshua 2:1-21 & 6:22-25;
Matthew 1:5,6). Even if you are no longer a virgin like Mary (Luke
1:26-27), you are still treasured by God if you genuinely repent.

4. David killed Uriah over Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). Because he
genuinely repented when Nathan confronted him, God forgave him (2
Samuel 12: 1-15; Psalm 51) though he suffered some consequences (2
Samuel 13; 15; 16:20-23; 18:9-17).

Other examples are those of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and the prophet
who allowed an older prophet to make him disobey God (1 Kings 13).

*You may now ask: Won't people abuse this privilege by doing evil all
their lives and repenting just before they die?

For one, God reads human hearts (1 Samuel 16:7) and can detect an
insincere repentance. For another, nobody knows when he/she will die
or the Lord will come. After someone dies, he is "conscious of
nothing" and incapable of repentance (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10).

May God help us to remain in the truth. Amen.

The fastest means of communication

Modern technology keeps bringing increasingly faster means of
communication (like phone calls, text messages, Facebook, email,
Twitter, 2go,BBM,WhatsApp, Skype,etc). Gone are the days of writing a
letter from Nigeria to the US and waiting for a month or more to get
a reply.

But have you heard of a system of communication in which you may get
an answer before the message is sent? God says @ Isaiah 65:24, "It
shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer".

God reads our hearts and always knows our needs even before we ask.(1
Samuel 16:7; Matthew 6:8). Often, even while we are speaking, the
desired blessing is on the way. Daniel was still praying when Gabriel
flew swiftly from God's throne with the answer (Daniel 9:1-6,20-23).

Yes,prayer is faster than any modern means of communication. Let's use it often.