“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
Hello Friends:
Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. Remember again what Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” I’m revising my last post made about a week ago. I thought about the premise I made of God making US incomprehensible, as the title of my last post indicates. But really, HE is the One that is incomprehensible—and He shows us, when we call out to Him, those incomprehensible things that we didn’t know beforehand. So the title of my revision is, “Incomprehensible Things!”
Again, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines incomprehensible as the following: “impossible to understand”. Why would a Bible verse then declare that people of God would be able to understand—something impossible to understand? Here is the verse in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things which you do not know.”
We discussed last time that intellectuals over the years have shared their belief that people who believe in God need a “crutch” because of their weakness. We discussed the fact that Christians oftentimes get a bad rap, sometimes, justifiably so. But that bad rap has absolutely nothing to do with God or God’s promises to us.
When God tells us that He will show us incomprehensible things, things impossible to understand, where else do we get that affirmation? Nowhere! We as Christians sometimes feel insecure and don’t understand why people don’t like us. But then we need to remember—that God loves—in fact He really likes us—so much that we have the inside track—no one else—on Him showing us “incomprehensible things”.
Until I see you next time keep sharing the wonderful love of Jesus,
Arlen
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
Hello Friends:
What is meant by the word “incomprehensible”? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines incomprehensible as the following: “impossible to understand”. Why would a Bible verse then declare that people of God would be able to understand—something impossible to understand? Here is the verse in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things which you do not know.”
Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. The title of my post today is, “Are You Incomprehensible?” What a word incomprehensible is! Sometimes there’s a Bible word or verse, that seems almost too good to be true.
Intellectuals over the years have shared their belief that people who believe in God need a “crutch” because of their weakness. Quora, an online website, about two years ago asked the question, “Is Religion a Crutch for Weak-Minded People?” Responders shared varying opinions, but most of them declared that religion is indeed a crutch for weak-minded people. On the campaign trail in 2008 former President Obama famously said about Bible-believing Midwesterners, “They get bitter", and "they cling to guns or religion.” He later tried to backtrack, saying his statement was misconstrued.
This isn’t, however, a political commentary on former President Obama, or for that matter, a commentary against intellectuals. It’s just to share a contradiction against what has been ingrained in us for so long.
Christians do sometimes get a bad rap. And sometimes, justifiably so. But that bad rap has absolutely nothing to do with God or God’s promises to us. When God tells us that He will show us incomprehensible things, things impossible to understand, where else do we get that affirmation? Nowhere!
When is the last time you had a close relative compliment you for your insight and wisdom? They usually do the opposite—right? They usually let you know in uncertain terms how far they think you’ve fallen off the deep end—into religiosity. After the high you feel because of God’s wonderful promises, they usually try their hardest to bring you back down to earth. But do we have to come back down to earth? The answer is—no!
The thing about this life is that we face adversity almost every day, some people more than others. We get sidetracked and because we're approaching Christmas, I’ll quote Burgermeister Meisterburger in the cartoon “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”. He said, “I’ve been bamboozled”. We sometimes feel—“bamboozled”, or as the old saying goes, we sometimes “feel lower than a snake’s belly.” But that doesn’t change the promise that God gave to us. It doesn’t change the verse that says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things which you do not know.”
Whenever we feel insecure and lower than a snake’s belly, or bamboozled—we can read that verse with confidence that He will indeed show us things—when we call out to Him, that seem impossible to understand.
And many people in turn will look at us—as impossible to understand. And many will look at us as—incomprehensible!
Until I see you next time keep sharing the wonderful love of Jesus,
Arlen
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
Hello Friends:
In the last couple of weeks, I heard a certain phrase, likely between 50 to 100 times. I saw big graphics posted with the phrase and pictures and names of many men and women associated with the phrase. I chuckled each time I heard it. It was like someone put out a nationwide memo for all their friends to parrot the same phrase over and over again—trying I think to cause a snowball effect. They thought that if enough people stated the phrase enough times, then more people that heard the phrase would think negatively about the people in question.
With a grin, I went back to Dee a couple of times in her office and asked her the phrase. Here it is—I said, “Honey, are you an election denier?” Both times she smiled, but shooed me away.
I’ll bet you think this post is going to be about the elections two days ago. I’m as guilty as anyone of clinging to hope that our country will turn in a more conservative direction—one where the limbs of babies aren’t torn apart piece by piece. Abortion, in my opinion, is a barbaric practice, but that’s a topic for another day, likely not associated with my Soulwinnersr.us website.
Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. The title of my post today is “Are You An Election Denier?”, and it’s not at all about the elections two days ago. It’s about an election that is exponentially more important!
There are seventeen New Testament Bible passages where the words “elect” or “election” are used. Why in the world does the Bible talk about election so many times? The writers were surely not talking about political elections or elected officials. Seven of those first references to election came from Jesus himself. The other ten were from the apostles Paul, Peter, and John.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines election as the following:
- “The act of being carefully selected, or chosen for an office or position."
- “Chosen for salvation through divine mercy.”
In a political election, people casting votes choose representatives for offices or positions. The election in the Bible, however, is where people are chosen by God to be His representatives. To say that God does the choosing doesn’t mean that people can’t influence God to choose them for salvation. God isn’t up in heaven pulling strings so that certain people are chosen, and others aren’t chosen. He does, however, know the end from the beginning.
Jesus knew that Judas was the one going to betray Him. I don’t think that means that Jesus wouldn’t have relented and chosen, or elected, Judas if he had repented and had some inclination toward sincerely following Jesus. Jesus knew that Judas was, and was going to continue to be—an election denier. Judas wasn’t willing to cry out to God to be elected by Him.
In the Old Testament Cain was despondent and very angry after Abel’s sacrifice was more acceptable than his own. In Genesis 4:6-7 God told Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” God was telling Cain, in essence, that He was ready and waiting for Cain to repent and turn toward Him. God was clearly saying to Cain, “Don’t be an election denier.”
God also doesn’t want any of us to be election deniers, but acceptors of His election. The most impactful verse to me about the wonder of being an election acceptor and not an election denier is what Jesus said in the following verses of Matthew 24:31:
Jesus said,
“He (God) will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
I so want to be part of the elect of Jesus who continues to follow Him, and not be a denier of him. The reason is that I want very much want to be among the many called up to the sky to meet Jesus in the air!
Until I see you next time keep sharing the wonderful love of Jesus,
Arlen
