Can the Bible Be Trusted? (Free Bible Course #2)

image is courtesy www.kingjamesbibleonline.org

STORY:

           A story is told of a young man who was the only child of the mother who was a widow. The woman did all she could to educate her only child. The child was blessed and had the opportunity to travel to America. For many years the mother was not hearing from the boy and she complained to the young man’s former head teacher. The head teacher visited the woman one Sunday. He found a lot of pink slips pasted over the walls of the illiterate woman’s living room.

        When he carefully inspected them, they were slips for parcels sent to the woman through the postal agency which was five miles away from the village. When all the parcels were collected, the woman became rich enough to move from the village into the city.

        God has written a letter to us. We decorate our coffee table, bookshelves, and dressing mirrors with the letter—The Bible, but we never read to know the rich promises of God to us. As many as forty authors wrote this book over a period of more than 1,500 years from 1500 BC to A.D 100. It is the oldest book in the world. It is God’s letter to man. It is a letter from a Heavenly Father whose mercy endureth forever. He who knows all about us wrote us this book so we can read and know how to live in this world of sin and disappointments.

FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THE BIBLE

       The Bible contains: 3,566,480 letters. 773,742 words. 31,173 verses; 1,189 chapters, and 66 books. Read 2Timothy 3:16-17 & 2Peter 1:21.

Did you know that?

Leviticus 13:40 is a text atheists can’t deny

2Kings 21:13 tells the way a person wipes a dish

2Samuel 21:20 and 1Chronicles 20:6 tell of a man with 24 fingers and toes.

2Chronicles 11:21 tells of a man with 88children. He had 18 wives, 60 concubines.

Judges 3:17 refers to a very fat man.

Ezekiel 16:4 tells us that anciently newborn babies were salted.

      The Bible contains more than 1,800 promises for people who are sick, discouraged, feel guilty, depressed, wretched, hopeless, divorced, widowed, married, singles, childlessness, and students.

The Word of God is likened to:

A fire                 Jeremiah 23:29

A lamp               Psalm 119:105

A sword             Ephesians 6:17

Milk                  1Peter 2:2

A hammer         Jeremiah 23:29

     Did you know that there are more than 250 names given to God in the Bible and each name is a promise to meet our needs, when in distress, you can call on  Jehovah Shalom. . . the God of peace(judges 6:24)

When you are lonely and afraid, you can call on the name Jehovah SHAMMAH. The Lord is present, Psalm 23, Ezekiel 48:35. When the witches are assailing you, you can call on the name Jehovah Sabbaoth, the Lord of Host . . . , 1Samuel 1:13

    The Bible is the only book that helps us to know about Jesus Christ.

He is the Star of Jacob                      Numbers 24:11

He is a Mighty God                           Isaiah 9:6

He is the Light of the world                John 8:12

He is the Chief Shepherd                  1 Peter 5:4

He is the Lord of Lords                   Revelation 19:16

    The Bible contains several prophecies that affect you and me. Do you want to know about tomorrow? Read the Bible – Do you want to know why there are many churches in the world today? Matthew 24:24. Do you know why there is so much selfishness and crime? 2Timothy 3:1-5

   You see, friends, it makes a difference what we do with this Book. It is more than just a Book to carry to church. It is more than a book to decorate tables. It is more than helpful information or useful advice. It is God’s book that speaks to our hearts. It is His letter to His children on planet earth. It is the secret of eternal life, everlasting happiness, and peace of mind.

    The bible has changed lives. It can change yours too.

    It has given hope to the hopeless. It can give you too.

    It has delivered people from vile lives. It can change you too.

   All you need to do is to search it. . . John 5:39

   All you need to do is to read and study it . . . 2 Timothy 2:15

“Study it through.  Never begin a day without mastering a verse. Pray it in. Never leave your Bible until the passage you studied is part of your very being. Put it down. Put the thought God gives you in the margin or your Bible. Work it out. Live the truth you get through it all the hours of the day. Pass it on. Seek to tell somebody what you have learned” J. Wilbur Chapman.

     If you love this post and you believe you've benefited from it why not kindly use the SHARE button below to spread this word to your friends and loved ones.God bless you,you can also share your thoughts by posting a comment on this post.
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         Till we meet again Remain Blessed.

The Real Truth About God (Free Bible Course #1)

        This is the first part of our fourteen weeks long course which we spoke about here we believe that Gods word is the living bread to a lot of  souls who are hungry and thirsty for the true word of God out there ,that's why we have taken this bold step in bringing more light to Gods word,be sure to read through this post with your BIBLE at hand.
        Have you not heard people complaining about God? "Oh,God . I am so lonely ,". Nobody cares about me. Is God alive? Does He care? Is God punishing me for my sins? These agonising cry eat away people's happiness and confidence in a loving God.The world is full of lonely people,sick people,unhappy people etc.
       Many conclude that "if the past holds no meaning,the present no joy,the future no hope,and no one seems to care,including God Himself,what is there to live for? A quote by F.Scott Fitzgerald says “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” Its difficult when in ones state of loneliness he/she does not feel that there is any help anywhere for to rescue him/her.
          Many people embark on dangerous drugs like "akpeteshie" (strong drink),desperately searching for a means or escaping the problems of life. Some pop pills, others prostitution and others busy themselves acquiring things. All of them are chasing fragile bubbles, only to have them burst,disappearing into oblivion, leaving a greater void,guilt and depression.
        Is there more to this life?Is there anyone who really cares?
        I have good news for you today. Yes ,life is more than food and clothing. There is someone who really,really cares.

STORY OF JACOB
       Once a brother was driven away from his home,threatened with death by,his senior brother whom he had cheated.In the night,in his loneliness of guilt and hopelessness, Jacob felt that even God may have forsaken him.
       As he slept using a stone for pillow,he saw a ladder reaching to heaven with angels of God ascending and descending on it. The angels were God's way of saying "I care about you,I still love you more,I do not love you less when you have sinned.My love is unconditional.Amen" Read Genesis 28:15
      Someone might say, God is far away? How can i trust a God I cannot see or feel? Job 22:21 "
You can get yourself acquainted with God as with an earthly father.The Prophet Isaiah adds. Isaiah 40:26.God is real.He is in control.It is no wonder David said;Psalm 8:3-4.Have you not wondered if a powerful God who rules and sustains all galaxies is actually concerned with you and your problems out here on this rebellious planet?. Listen to what Jesus said: Matthew 10:31. As if to explain further how much He cares.Jesus added:Read Matthew 10:30. Oh what a God!

THE GREATNESS OF GOD 
       God not only made man and gave him a beautiful universe to live in but He is also mindful of our needs. Read Matthew 5:45. Someone has said that "if the sun were a little bigger or a little closer to Earth" our oceans would boil away." If the sun just a little smaller, or a little further away, our atmosphere would freeze",But you see God not only created all things, He sustains all things.
       The air we breath is a gift of God, an evidence of His care and love for us. Read Job 12:7-9,12. Listen to a promise from the pen of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 32:17. Nothing is too hard for Him.Nothing! Nothing!! Nothing is too hard for Him.Does that give you some peace and hope-knowing that God will not  meet anything in your life that He cannot handle? No problem is too small to bring to God. No problem is too large to bring to God who upholds the unnumbered worlds in His hands.
        Listen to one very encouraging characteristics of God Malachi 3:6 what a peace and confidence we can have knowing that there is nothing in our lives that can happen that is too hard for God to take care of. In fact He has a title: 1 John 4:8, Jeremiah 31:3. Nothing can separate you and me from the love of God. Read Romans 8:38.
        God loves us when we are unlovable He loves us whether we are rich or poor male or female,educated or uneducated,beautiful or ugly. "There is nobody else like Him." Do you still doubt His love for you? Listen to Isaiah 49:15-16. Love must be proved.If God so loves us,what is the proof? A friend in need is a friend indeed. When we were in trouble and Satan was harassing us and enslaved us what did He do? Read John3:16.
        Christ died in your place and in my place.He suffered the cruel lashing,the thorn driven in His forehead,the nails driven through His hands and feet,yet without protest He confronted Satan on his own grounds and on his own terms yet He won the victory for us.He died so we can live.He came down so we can go up.He became poor so we can become rich.He became the Son of man so we can become the children of God.This is what God is like.

STORY: A little boy and his dad went for a party.After the meals,a big bowl of peanuts was placed on the table.Everybody was to serve himself but once when it got to the turn of the little boy,he refused to take.He looked up into his dad's face.His dad said,"boy,take your share."Dad,you know my hands are too small yours are big,i can take very little but you can take more for me,please take for me" why don't you let God take control of your life?
        If you love this post and you believe you've benefited from it why not kindly use the SHARE button below to spread this word to your friends and loved ones.God bless you,you can also share your thoughts by posting a comment on this post.
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         Till we meet again Remain Blessed.
     

My Course Begins

    For years now some topical issues have almost turned the christian fold apart and this topical issues are yet to be fully discussed,perhaps the discussion of this topical issues could tear some folds  apart because a discovery of this truth could stare up some interest in the minds of their followers so they rather it is buried.This course is coming at a time when the truth has taken the back bench in the preachings that we hear all around,but this course would dig deep and unravel all the mysteries behind this issues and bring them to fore.
    This theme of this course is "HOPE THROUGH THE STORM".There are two words that we would want to consider in the theme first is HOPE,what is hope? the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "a belief that something you want will happen",this means that a lot of us have hope for a better tomorrow but what about STORM,what is storm? "a very bad weather with  strong winds and rain ,and often thunder and lightning",now considering this two words don't you think putting them together is not too right,but is it possible to have Hope through the Storm, yes it is and that's exactly what we would be dwelling on for the next fourteen weeks.
      This course is taking the shape of fourteen weeks and it starts next week wednesday 9th April 2014, because every week i would be publishing one article based on this course,the one week period is for all those who are participating in the course to be able to go back and study and then come back to ask questions if you have.
      We at Akpa Chigozie's Blog are so excited to come to you with this life changing and soul uplifting and inspiring course,we know it would touch someones life and our Gods name would be glorified.Remember to sign up to our emailing list now so as to keep up to speed with developments here at this blog

Been a long Holiday

  Well it seems like am new here but no am not just that i left for too long, please forgive as i have been busy putting a lot of things in order.But to the Glory of God am back with much more to offer to you all.
   I remain your humble servant,blogger and writer Akpa Chigozie saying remain blessed as you read through the pages of this blog.

The Roles of the Prophets

  We shall continue our series on how God communicates Himself or reveals Himself to humanity and today our attention would be on the Prophets, come with me as we see this together.

   After the fall, when God no longer spoke to humanity directly, He communicated with them through men and women whom the bible calls seers or prophets (1sam 9:9).The word prophet(in hebrew  nabi) means “one called by God”. The prophet is a person who proclaims Divine messages. These may relate to the past, the present or the future, and many consist of  exhortation, instruction, consolation, or prediction. The English word prophet come from the Greek prophetes, a combination of the preposition pro ,”for”,or “on behalf of” with the verb phemi “to speak”. Thus the idea being “to speak for”.

How does this text (exodus4:10-17) help us better understand the role of the prophets?

     Here Moses objects to God’s call for him to go to Egypt and confront  Pharaoh,claiming that he is “slow of speech and of a slow tongue”.(vs10).Even after God reminded Moses that he had made the mouth and would enable him to speak before Pharaoh,Moses still objected,how many of us today in our own little corner and way have consistently objected to doing the will of God giving excuses of our career or jobs, our children, our comfort,our discomfort,our education,allowing all of these things to make us deviate from the track, God is ever willing to make use of us as long as we empty our cups of  all the excuses and let him know where we are stuck just as he did in the case of Moses.Then God told Moses that he would send Aaron to go with him,  “he shall be your spokesman to the people,and you shall be to him as god.”(vs16).as  Moses was to be spokesperson for god ,so Aaron would spokesperson for Moses,thus a prophet speaks for someone.

     The prophet may speak to humankind on behalf of God , or vice versa. The primary task of a prophet is to declare the Divine will.Throughout the history or Isreal,the prophets main task was to guide gods people.Particularly during the time of monarchy,when the kings often “did that which was evil in the sight of the lord”(2kings 13:2),the prophetic institution was the guardian of the theocracy.The prophets upheld the law of God and taught it to the people.

     Today what we see all over the screens of our Tv’s and all that we hear on the radio are so called “prophets” who parade themselves as preachers of God’s word but who do not uphold the tenets of Gods law. Let those who are called to the work or being prophets do the job let no mediocre be involved in this institution that God has ordained for the purpose of His work, let the people beware also of this men who parade themselves as prophets when they are actually not, they are deceptive, and they have lured a lot of people into evil.

      Let the Akpa Chigozie Blog Newsletter come to your email every week to help renew your spiritual life.When you're torn apart,worn out and distracted by the world,take a moment to be inspired by stories of what God has done in the past with his people and be energised by news of how He is moving in dramatic ways around the world.Click on this link to subscribe to the Akpa Chigozie  Blog Newsletter today and experience an important part of sustainable Christian living.

         Please if you love what you've read on this page don't hesitate to share it to your friends and loved ones as well,God bless as you use the share button to do so.Dont forget you can also comment by clicking on the Post a comment link.

How does nature reveal God?(Psalm19:1-6)

     

image is coutesy birdswallpaper

The Bible tells us that the world God created was perfect in  every way(Gen 1:31).But scripture  also reveals that sin has altered the natural world(Gen 3:17,18).Prior to the fall,only beautiful useful plants were found upon the earth.God "never made a thorn,a thistle,or a tare.These are satan's work,the result of degeneration".Ellen  G White, Testimonies to the Church Vlo6 Page 186.Nevertheless,there is still great beauty in the changing of the leaves in autumn,in a vivid sunset,and in the opening of a rosebud on a sunny morning.

image is courtesy Teresa Kasner

       Bible writers often refer to the phenomina of nature as a revelation of Gods majesty and greatness(Psalm8&104).Consider the universe! on a clear night one can see with the naked eye thousands of stars.However,our Milky Way galaxy has about two hundred billion stars and thats only one galaxy several hundred billion galaxies that we now can see.Who knows how many more are beyond our telescope!
       Distances in the universe boggle  the mind:Apart from the sun,the nearest star to our earth,Alpha Centauri,is 4.28 light years away (one light year is the distance light travels in one year 5.9trillion miles).A spaceship travelling 100,00miles per hour would require about 29,000 years to get there.In contrast,our Milky Way has a diameter of 100,000 light years! The largest galaxy known thus far is Markarian,with diameter of 1.3million light years.

How God communicated In the Beginning

image is courtesy Mark Mallet

    This series started some days ago with our first post which explains the medium through
which heaven reveals God and communicates with humanity read it up here Heavens Means of Communication.
    Today we are taking a step to better understanding this series,to do this we have to take a conscious retrace back to the origin,the Beginning and through this retrace we can by Gods grace find answers to our nagging question which is,How does God reveal/communicate Himself with humanity?.
     In the Garden of Eden God spoke with Adam and Eve face to face(Gen3:8). However,after that fateful day,when they blatantly disobeyed their Lord,they no longer were allowed to enjoy His presence(Gen3:23,24),as they were chased out of the Garden of Eden,and their face to face communion/communication with God ended.We must therefore take thoughts for ourselves as sin is a great thing that seperates us from Gods presence as the more we dwell in sin the deeper and faster we loose contact with our creator,as His creatures we must therefore keep distances from sin so as to keep our communion with  God.
     What do the the following texts(Gen32:30,Exo33:11,Judges6:22) tell us about face to face encounters with God?.When we look at those texts we would see that at different occasions, some persons had epressions like "I have seen the Angel of the Lord  face to face".Frequently the Old Testament identifies the Angel of God or the Angel of the Lord with God Himself.Jacob refers to God and the Angel in the same way(Gen48:16);the Angel of the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush,yet,it is God who speak to him(Exo3:2);the Angel who appeared to Gideon is identified with God(Judges6:11).In all of this text we find out that God appears to humanity,but whenever God manifested Himself to human beings in a bodily form,it was always in a humanlike manifestation.
      In John1:18 John says "No man hath seen God at any time,the only begotten son,which is in the bossom of the Father,He had declared Him".The Divine Being,therefore,Who appeared to the people in the Old Testament must have been Jesus not the Father.Ellen G White tells us that "after the transgression of Adam,the Lord spoke no longer directly to man;the human race was given into the hands of Christ,and all communication came through Him to the world.It was Christ who gave the law on Mount Sinai".Fundamentals of Christian Education pg237.238.As Christians we must strife on daily basis to live a life free from sin so that our dear Lord can commune with us.Next week we would look at How God Communicates with us through Nature.
       Let the Akpa Chigozie Blog Newsletter come to your email every week to help renew your spiritual life.When you're torn apart,worn out and distracted by the world,take a moment to be inspired by stories of what God has done in the past with his people and be energised by news of how He is moving in dramatic ways around the world.Click on this link to subscribe to the Akpa Chigozie  Blog Newsletter today and experience an important part of sustainable Christian living.
         Please if you love what you've read on this page don't hesitate to share it to your friends and loved ones as well,God bless as you use the share button to do so.Dont forget you can also comment by clicking on the Post a comment link.


        Till we talk again
         Remain blessed.

Heaven's Means of Communication

image is courtesy emergingyouth

Text for the day:Hebrews 1:1,2
      For many years and through all of history,the question has been on virtually everyones lips,How does God communicate/reveal Himself to His people?,but the answer is,does He really have a medium,an avenue of revealing Himself and passing down information to the human race? or is our God mute.This questions are very important as they would lead us to getting answers from the word of God and the reality of God's communicative medium with humanity.
      Yes! God has means of communicating and in this post we would find out those mediums through which our God reveals Himself.There are two basic ways in which God has revealed Himself to humanity:Generally and Special revelation.General revelation is God's revelation of Himself to all people t,rom1:20). God's  revelation through nature and conscience(psalm19:1,rom1:20).God revelation through the prophets as recorded in scripture,especially His revelation through Jesus Christ,is special revelation.Through this means God appeared to the Old testament patriachs and prophets in order to make His will known.
       He revealed His power and purpose through Isreal's history(manna from heaven,red sea departing to give dry land,a pillar of cloud at night,the destruction of pharaoh and his army etc.).

image is courtesy supernatural life

Then,later,He sent His only begotten Son,Who, in the garb of humanity,revealed the Father in a unique and powerful way.
          In the coming days we would be looking at both types of revelation as it have to do with our christian journey.The coming posts at a glance:What is general and special revelation?,What can nature teach us about God?,What can it not teach us?,How does the revelation through Jesus Christ differ from God's other revelations?,so join me as we go through Gods word together.
          Let the Akpa Chigozie Blog Newsletter come to your email every week to help renew your spiritual life.When you're torn apart,worn out and distracted by the world,take a moment to be inspired by stories of what God has done in the past with his people and be energised by news of how He is moving in dramatic ways around the world.Click on this link to subscribe to the Akpa Chigozie  Blog Newsletter today and experience an important part of sustainable Christian living.
         Please if you love what you've read on this page don't hesitate to share it to your friends and loved ones as well,God bless as you use the share button to do so.Dont forget you can also comment by using the comment link.


Till we talk again
Remain blessed.