I am, therefore I think... sometimes not

"Cogito ergo sum" is Latin for something like "I think, therefore I am" expressed by René Descartes.

There's been a lot of discussion about that phrase. Probably too much. One argument by Søren Kierkegaard is that the phrase is not logically sound because it relates the "am" to the "think" without any proof. I think he just missed the whole meaning. That if "YOU" can relate to the "I" then "YOU" exist. One simple way to relate to the "I" is to think, therefore if I think, then I exist, that something that thinks has to exist!

When Moses asked God what His name was, God replied: "I am" - He didn't even need to say anything about thinking. He knew already! Ha!

Anyway that's not what I really want to write about.

In Genesis it says that God made man in His image. This has been thought about and discussed ever since then. How are we created in God's image? Chances are he's not fat or bald like some of us. Or even tall and skinny like others. So it's not what we look like. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." And God said His name was "I am" so maybe it's because we can think. Many have said it's because we can love. I like that one.

But there's a lot of opinion that animals think and have the capability of love and that they would then have to have been made in the image of God as well. Maybe they have been. The Bible doesn't specifically say they haven't - we just sort of imply that because God said it about us. There are also verses that say that God is Love (Check out 1 John 4:8) and other verses that say that God is "in" everything and can be seen in everything. So maybe animals can love and it's because of God.

I've heard that many believers in God don't believe that animals "go to Heaven" or won't be in the Heavenly Kingdom. Revelation 19:11 says: "Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse!" I thinks it pretty clear that there are animals in Heaven.

But that brings us back to the "made in God's image" statement. The Bible is meant to be read and understood and followed. I don't think God intended to trick us with the statement. I think He wanted us to realize that we are different, that we are like Him in ways that the animal kingdom is not. But in what way?

In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verse 11, in the King James Version of the Bible, it says:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

I think that is the clue. We have eternity in our heart. We can think about eternity. We can ponder life after death. We can relate to God and worship Him as God. I think that's what makes us different.

We love Him because He first loved us, but I expect animals (at least Godly ones) would love Him as well. What makes us different is that we can understand that He is God, Eternal. I would not expect animals to be able to understand that. They might recognize His authority, much like a child will recognize their mother. But they cannot understand or comprehend its significance. And I don't really think animals concern themselves with eternity, with the afterlife. We are definitely different than any other creature.

So we can ponder eternity and that makes us like God. It does not make us as smart as God, though. That's clear from the rest of the verse: "yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Fathom means to understand in depth. So it says no one can truly understand what God has done from beginning to end. No one, not even Stephen Hawking, can understand how God created the beginning of time.

Nor can we truly understand where we are headed. In fact, none of us actually really truly knows where we are! Or what we are like.

I do that all the time. I think I'm doing okay, being nice and all, but it turns out that some people just think I'm a jerk or something. We can't both be right. And since I'm the jerk I get to assume that I'm the one that's right... ha! And yet, I can ponder eternity and I can worship God because I have been created in God's image. It's amazing! I am so thankful for God's love and mercy. I'm guessing that I give Him a chance to put His mercy into practice just about every day. I have a feeling we all do.

I'm also glad that he didn't put eternity in our hearts just to tease us. He plans on taking us there some day, some how. Or maybe because it's eternal it's more like we'll always be on that journey there. I don't know. I don't really understand. But He does. And He's promised to take us there. In John chapter 14, Jesus promises us:

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

The Ultimate Spectator Sport

No, I'm not really going to talk about sports. Sorry.

I was just thinking and praying about how the Lord lets us go through so many problems. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" That's Psalm 34:19. And that's for the "righteous" - you can imagine how bad it must be for us sinners! Phew! Is it getting hot in here? Well, Okay, we are the "righteous" because we've received God's righteousness through Christ, through receiving His gift of salvation. So, yeah, the verse does apply to us. And, yeah, some of us do go through a lot of problems. Seriously I don't know why some seem to get more problems and afflictions than others, but I'm sure there's a special plan for each of us, specially tailored to work God's will in our lives.

Which brings us to the second part of that verse: "but the Lord delivers him out of them all." This is the exciting part. When afflictions and problems hit us we usually can only see the first part of the verse, especially the word "many" really hangs in there and bothers us. At least that's my usual reaction. But what we're supposed to be thinking about is the second part of the verse. And we're supposed to be thinking about three words in particular: "Lord", "delivers" and that very special word: "all".

The word "all" is so cool. Really think about it! That means everything, every single little thing, every major problem, every stinking difficulty, everything that afflicts you in some way. Of course, if you're like me, you're probably your own worst enemy, so, yeah, that can also mean delivering you from yourself. Ah... well... Sorry, I didn't mean to mess up the coolness of the word "all" - but, you know, it really would be nice to be delivered from our own sins. So, yeah, it's still cool! Actually, the more I think about it, that's even better!

However, I'm still missing something. I guess I'm missing the real point of that verse. It's the word "Lord" that really makes the difference. We can be delivered. We can be righteous. We can be saved and victorious. But for what? What is salvation anyway? It's being close to God! That's what it is. Not close to Him, like "Look at me! I'm standing next to God! I'm so great!" No, more like "Wow, God, You really do love me! In spite of myself! You're so cool!" That kind of closeness. That's salvation. That's heaven.

So when we get afflictions and problems we really should be looking to the Lord and getting closer to Him through them. Again, closer in love and thankfulness, not necessarily closer in goodness or our own righteousness. That won't really work.

That means that Christianity is like the most ultimate Spectator Sport ever!

We're supposed to be watching what God does in our lives! If we keep looking we will not be disappointed! King David said in Psalm 27, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." He expected to see the Lord do something! He expected Him to come through for him with whatever it took to deliver him, to see the "goodness" of God.

"What about all those Christians in the arena during the Roman persecutions?! It was the Romans who were the spectators! Not the Christians!" Hold on, I've got an answer for that... "And do you mean we are not supposed to do anything about our Christianity?! We're supposed to just sit around waiting and watching?!"

No! I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. Let me explain. During those persecutions, what was the greatest event that happened for each and everyone that suffered? Was it that they suffered? That's what the Romans were watching. Or was it that God came and took them and brought them to heaven with great rewards? That's what only the Christians saw! They saw the Glory of God! They were the real spectators in that arena. They were the only ones who really saw the winning goal!

But they did need to be in the arena to see it. So it's more like an Interactive Spectator Sport! Sort of like Gaming on your favorite console, only better.

The second part of the verse, "but the Lord delivers him out of them all" doesn't really have any significance without the first part, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" - We need some battles, afflictions, challenges to be able to partake of this amazing spectator sport. Without them we'd miss the greatest show on earth (and in heaven).

Of course, it's more than just watching God do His work. It's being a part of His work, being close to Him, learning about Him, even becoming more like Him day by day. He's wants us to partake of this sport, not to show how great He is, but to show us how much He loves us. How great He thinks we are!

He also wants to share His kingdom with us. How can He do that? By letting us be a part of His work, by working through us in the lives of others, by being Him in this world. Being Him means letting His light and love flow through us. It's not that we become so great and mighty. If that were possible then people would be seeing us and not Him. It's actually a good thing we are such a mess. Then there's no confusion. Anything good we end up doing has to be God and not us.

So you got problems? Big problems? Be there. And watch.

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14

Legos are cool

I really like Legos. They are cool. You can spend hours building things and creating the latest greatest super cool 7 wheeled interspace dune buggie shuttle. And then play with it as your own very specialized toy that no one else in the whole wide world has - just you. Now that's cool. Of course, my kids like them even better than I do. It's a shame that I don't play with them as often as I would like - adults just don't get as much time as kids do. I don't know why. It looks like the same 24 hours, but for some reason it doesn't last as long for big people. Oh well.

Anyway, I was praying the other day and the Lord showed me how studying the Bible and memorizing important verses and promises was like playing with Legos. Ya, really! Okay, well, actually it wasn't about playing with the Legos so much as to the fact that you don't just use Legos for a day and then throw them away. You keep them so you can use them again another day. At least you should. If you've been throwing them away you're really missing out on the best part: the fact that the same Legos can be used over and over, day after day, and still seem just like new toys! Stop throwing them away, okay?

Now what does that have to do with the Bible? Well, you can read a passage from the Bible and be spiritually uplifted. It feeds your spirit and you actually grow spiritually. Often as you read, a particular verse or two will stand out as being especially meaningful and helpful. Just what you needed! Like a key that unlocks that door you've been banging your head on for days trying to get through. The Bible works! God's Word and Guidance have all the answers! So you read them and apply them once and then just forget them, right? I hope not! You really don't want to lose those important keys. It's amazing how many times we have to go through the same door that always seems to lock itself. We need those keys again and again.

Also, often when you pray the Lord will remind you of what you have read in the Bible and other spiritually uplifting reading. And as you go through you day, you'll often remember these lessons learned and they help you make it to the next step. They will be the keys to unlock that door again and many times will even unlock other doors that looked different but apparently were very similiar.

And the Legos? Well we keep all our Legos in big boxes under the kids' beds. And when we need them we just pull out those boxes and dig in to find just the piece we need to add in that extra doorway or window on the three story super duper space galactic dune buggie garage and repair shop. That's what we need to do with our special key Bible verses. We need to store them in big boxes under the bed - no, I mean, we need to memorize them and keep them in the big box that sits on our shoulders. That way they will always be there to help us when we need them.

You do have to take them out often and dust them off or else you will forget them. So be sure to spend time both memorizing verses and reviewing verses that you've already memorized. Don't want all that work spent memorizing to go down the drain.

Also, please don't just wait until you find key verses and promises as you read and study God's Word. You can find lists of very special verses that others have already tried and proven to be effective. You can check out this site, https://www.gotpromise.com/promises.  It has a whole lot of verses.

So, how many Legos do you have?

Let's get started

There's always so much to talk about, but since I don't really have any idea who might be reading this, I figure I ought to talk about something worthwhile. I know I hate to read through posts that just ramble... uhh... okay then.

I hope you've "got promise" since for me I can't imagine living without it. What promise? I'm talking about the promise of Heaven and eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I know almost everyone has some concept of Heaven and the 'other place' and some concept of eternal life (or not). Most of the different ideas and beliefs about the 'afterlife' and the spirit world are really hard to deal with and even accept unless you believe that somehow you will win out in the end. The alternative is just way too scary to even think about, never mind believe in.

The greatest thing you could ever discover is that you don't even need to worry about Hell, Hades, (New York?) or any other place. (Okay, New Yorkers, I've lived in New York, and, no, it was not really all that much like Hell - I just thought it was a cute joke - please forgive me...)

If you've "got Promise" then a promise is a promise, especially if it's someone as faithful and honest as God making the promise to you! I couldn't possibly list all the verses and other references to God's promise in just one blog post, so I'm not going to bother. The fact is that you really don't need to know them all - but they do help to make the promise more 'alive' as you study them.

And how do you, personally, your own self, get this promise? - "For God so loved the world (that includes you!) that He gave His only Son, Jesus, (to pay for our sins and mistakes) that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) would not perish but have everlasting life." - There now you have it - well sort of. The promise is conditional on believing in Jesus, but that's the easy part. Even atheists believe that Jesus was a real person. You just need to believe that He is the Savior of the world, sent by God.

Now most Christians believe that you need to say a prayer of salvation to get the promise and I won't really argue against that in any way. But I believe that if you really "admit to yourself" that you believe that Jesus is the Savior and that you want that salvation then you have already prayed! That personal admission is heard by God - He knows all your thoughts! How could He not hear that? I mean if you really do believe in Him, then you realize that He can hear your thoughts, so that admission of belief was also to Him. For your own faith, though, I do recommend that everyone say a prayer of Salvation. That way you never have to worry whether or not you did what you were supposed to do or not. So here's one you can pray right now:

Dear Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God, and that You took my punishment and died for me. Please forgive me for all of my sins. I now invite you into my heart. Jesus, I know that I can never be good enough to save myself, so I ask You to please come in and give me Your free gift of Eternal Live! In Jesus name I ask, amen.

Wow! That was it! If you prayed that prayer then you've "got Promise" - you've got eternal life and have a guaranteed ticket to Heaven. Better start thinking about the trip and your new life - there's so much to look forward to. The best person to ask about it is Jesus Himself. He can tell you exactly what to expect and what to pack, ha! Just ask Him - He does answer! He would never ever let you down. That's a promise.