152. ANGELS YES OR NO.

There are over three hundred references to Angels in Scripture, Both in the Old and New Testament. What do they look like? You ask, Well, they usually appear in the garb or dress of the culture and day. There’s no real description or words in Scripture of wings, haloes feathers etc. Although they often seem to give their names Gabriel, Michael and I believe there is a Ra phial, mentioned in some of the old books and translations. Their occupation. Angels are messengers from Heaven who are sent (Mostly but not always) to individuals, to guide and protect those of us who have given our hearts, souls and lives to God. Not being one of the opposition I don’t know how or If Angels ever cross the paths of the unsaved. But, What I do know is that God looks after His own and often uses Angels to communicate and apply His Will. This doesn’t mean that no bad things will happen to those of us who are saved’ No! It just means sometimes things will and do occur in the lives of the committed which make us ask the WHY question. But, our consolation is in knowing that whatever it is has been sanctioned by God for us: for reasons we are not privy to at that particular stage in our lives. But more often than not He does reveal them to us later. Now, this calls for Faith and an acceptance, even willingness on our part to suffer with the Crucified Christ and as Paul tells us,’ to consider it a privilege yes and a pleasure, considering the glory that awaits us.” No! It’s not easy this maturing as a Christian, Nor is taking up our cross daily to follow Jesus, that’s why we need to pray to The Holy Spirit on a daily bases for the Faith of Christ to be established in us as a permanent resident gift. We really need a good strong reliable Faith in God and that comes by regular Bible reading and living it. How? By knowing that Jesus with His own blood bought and paid for you and me; Not with money, Gold, Silver or precious stones, No! we are worth much more to God than any earthly commodity. It had to be the pure blood-offering of a perfect Human Being to a Devine God. And Jesus God’s only Son is the only human being who could ever fulfil that role and did, just for us. That’s how much God loves You an I and wont allow anything to hinder or come between Himself and us; And that demands complete Faith and Trust on our part Right, Back to Angels; There are two significant words in Scripture that seem to describe Angels, “Many and Mighty” But it took only one angel to shut the mouths of lions for Daniel, and one Angel to bring Peter out of prison the night before he was to be executed, and do you remember Elisha’s servant? When an enemy army surrounded the city of Dothan. In (2Kings,6:17) ”Elisha asked God to open his servant’s eyes; And The Lord let the servant see that the hill was covered with fiery horses and flaming chariots all around Elisha.” If God opened your eyes today, what would you see? Angels with your children and grand children at school? Angels protecting you from drunk drivers on the road? An Angel guiding the hand of a surgeon? An Angel guarding you, your family and your home while you slept? One Bible teacher says, “If you are a believe, expect powerful angels to accompany you in all of life’s experiences” Does everyone have an Angel looking out for them? The answer to that question is in Hebrews (1:14) which says “All Angels (are) ministering Spirits sent to serve those who will inherit Salvation”. When you accept Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour, You gain the ultimate security. When you give your life to God, and acknowledge Jesus as His only Son who gave His life for you, you receive around-the-clock protection because (Psalm 34:7) says “The Angel of The Lord encamps around those who fear Him.” Note Your Angel doesn’t just give you a wave or two as He flies past, He pitches his tent, lingers and keeps vigilance over you. You can rest secure beneath the shadow of his wings – If that doesn’t lower your anxiety level, nothing will. The fact of the matter is, some of the wealthiest people on the planet don’t have it that good. How blessed we are to be chosen to know, love and serve Our Great and Glorious God. Thank and Praise Him everyday for choosing you and sending you an Angel of your very own. I do!! Thank you for reading this word about Angels. I hope it brings clarity to your thoughts on the matter of our heavenly protectors and friends. God bless Phaline. ------------------------

151. GOD’S CREATIVE WORKMANSHIP Psalm 139

Could plants, animal, bird and human life as we know it – have spontaneously happened by some great explosion, by accident, chance or anything else ? Could our amazing solar system also be the result of the same sort of catastrophe? The more advanced science becomes, the more evidence there is for a master designer. Researchers continue to uncover the divine order in each tiny human cell. The American Biochemist Bruce Alberts, former President of the National Academy of Sciences writes, “We have always underestimated cells; undoubtedly we still do… cells are the basic units of life...Indeed the entire cell can be viewed as a factory that contains an elaborate network of interlocking assembly lines each of which is composed of a set of different protein machines in defined positions.” David was a great king, a psalmist and even known as a friend of God, but he wasn’t a scientist, yet he recognised that each of us was a complex product of God’s amazing hands! Read (Psalm 139:13-18“You made all the delicate inner parts of my body, and knit me together in my mother’s womb...You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion...woven together in the dark of the womb...How precious are your thoughts about me...They cannot be numbered!.. And when I wake up you are still with me.” Yes hundreds of years before science discovered the intricacies of the human body, God reviled to David His Almighty ability, power and gracious love for mankind. The average human heart beats 115,000 times a day. Our blood travels just over 119,000 km everyday, (that is about twelve times the length of New Zealand) Adults take an average of 18,000 to 30,000 breaths a day and, for the most part, all these functions take place without us being aware of them. Amazing isn’t it! What a God. So perhaps we all need to stop right now to acknowledge and thank our Creator for the amazing things He did with that first clump of dirt... which He made anyway. Speaking of our amazing bodies... what about our DNA. Each human cell (up to 100 trillion) contains a database larger than the Encyclopedia Britannica. Could all that, have originated by chance? An English physicist Paul Davies, makes this comparison: “It’s rather like exploding a stick of dynamite under a pile of bricks and expecting it to build a house. You may liberate enough energy to raise the bricks, but without coupling the energy in a controlled way, there is little hope of producing anything other than a chaotic mess,” It takes more than a pile of bricks to build a house. The intelligence and skill of the Architect and qualified builder are key components. It’s the same with all the complexities of the human being. The odds are zero that all the required elements to initiate human life just happened to assemble themselves in the same spot on earth at the same time. And even if we did accept that notion, blind chance couldn’t put those 100 trillion cells together in the order required to produce life. Prominent Scientist Francis Crick, wasn’t noted for his faith in God, or even in Jesus Christ, but even he said, “The origin of life seems almost to be a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.” And what is the miracle? David the Psalmist told us, ( psalm 139:13-14) “You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” And that is the miracle!! Any normal thinking person, Christian or non-Christian knows, deep down in his heart, that there must be a great master designer and Creator of this universe and all that is in it; Including it’s inhabitants . Whether they be plants, animals, birds, fish etc. each with it’s own level of intelligence to feed, defend and protect themselves. But when it came to man, it was a whole different story. (Genesis 1:26.) “Then God said’ let us make man in our own image… “ man was made in God’s image. He did not say that about anything else in creation, so man, from the very beginning was different. How did God do that? And for what purpose? In (Genesis 2:7) we read, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils and the man became a living human being.” that takes care of the how question. Now God’s purpose or reason for creating man, one could say because He wanted to. But, the truth is, God’s only requirement is to be loved, praised, glorified, honoured, worshipped and adored. Which, being our creator has every right to demand, but doesn’t,Why? because, He wants us to come to Him voluntarily with a pure heart and humble spirit. Always remembering that He is The Creator and we are the created. With that in mind, we will always keep God in His rightful place on His throne. Thank you for reading these thoughts on God’s Creative Workmanship. And remember the tremendous debt we owed and the tremendous price He paid for us to enjoy eternity with Him. Food for thought. God Bless us all. Phaline. -----------------------s

150 KEEP LEARNING ABOUT GOD. Mark 12:30.

The above Scripture Commands us ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ What exactly does that mean? And how can it be achieved?… Well, Armed with the Word of God, and the help of Albert Einstein and a couple of his mates, I am going to try and answer those two questions. We have to realise, understand and accept, that God has created each of us with the capacity to learn and keep learning until the day we die, which is something we should always be grateful to Him for and never take for granted. The average brain weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms, yet neurologists approximate that we have the ability to learn something new every second of every minute of every hour of everyday for the next three hundred million years. That’s awesome isn’t it? But it’s more than that, it’s an awesome obligation, Learning isn’t an indulgence: It’s a stewardship matter. Jesus said in (Mark12:30) “You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” It’s impossible to determine the percentage of how much of our minds we use, but all of us have untapped potential. Your imagination is capable of much more than you can dream, yet somewhere along the way, most of us stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory. We stop designing the future and start copying the past. And that is the day we cease living and begin dying. Why? Because we have stopped educating ourselves or teaching ourselves to learn more and take advantage of educational systems that are presented to us. A number of us just say “That’s enough” instead of pushing on Loving God with all your mind require maximising your mind by learning as much as possible about as much as possible. The true litmus test of spiritual maturity isn’t the quantity you know,: it is knowing the quantity you don’t know. It’s reconciling yourself with the reality that God is not an object of comprehension as much as He is a source of wonder. And that sacred sense of wonder ignites a holy curiosity to keep learning more and more about the Creator and His Creation Loving God with all your mind means managing your mind and making the most of it. It means loving God logically and creatively, intuitively and thoughtfully. Albert Einstein, one of history”s greatest minds said: “The important thing is not to stop questioning”. You see, Curiosity has its’ own reason for existence. None of us can help but be in awe when we contemplate the mysteries of eternity, or of life, or of the marvellous structures of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. No, Never loose a holy curiosity . Downplaying his genius, Einstein said “I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. In Psalm (24:1) we read:-The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein. So, therefore your curiosity should be boundless and that means without limits. The Laten word for ‘education’, means “to draw out”, rather than “to cram in.” I believe that most academic programmes focus on force-feeding knowledge rather than releasing curiosity. The result of this sort of teaching is..We get to know some things, but. We get to lose what is most vital: The love and an appreciation of learning. I found a good example of this;-- Here it is... In one study of a top university, the highest scoring graduates were given their same final exam a month later, and they all failed. Now why would that be? When you attempt to cram the truth into your mind, it seldom gets past the short term memory. And it doesn’t get into the Soul. Sadly, that is what happens sometimes in church on Sundays. So what’s the answer? Put God’s word into practise prayerfully, physically, emotionally, every chance you get. Gerd every thought, deed, step and breath with God’s Word. Then you will retain what He wants you to retain and loose the rest. As you can probably understand, there’s been a bit of research gone into this and I apologise if it’s too wordy or clinical, but, I do believe God is interested in every part of us, seen and unseen, verbal and silent, brains and imagination. I also believe, the more we look, the more we will discover about our Wonderful God. After all that’s why we are here “To know, love and serve Him. No one can serve wholeheartedly anyone they don’t love, and no one can love unconditionally anyone they don’t know. So to really know God we must take up His Word daily, read, learn, believe and practise it, that’s the only way to get to know Him and His Will for our lives. Thank you for reading these few words on how to really get to know your God; may He abundantly bless and draw you ever closer to Himself. Phaline.