THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE

When Jesus stood before Pilate, he asked Jesus, “What is truth?” But he didn’t wait for the answer. If he had, I’m sure Jesus would have told him something similar to what he said in John 17:17 and John 8:31-32.

In John 17:17, Jesus said God’s word is Truth. In John 8:31-32, Jesus said if we continue in his word we will know the truth and the truth will make us free. I don’t know about you, but I want to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

The truth is there in God’s Book, the Holy Bible. The answers to our questions about life here on Earth, and life in the hereafter. Satan is out to destroy us, and we make it easier for him when we don’t know and understand God’s word. Remember how Jesus responded to Satan’s attacks when he tempted him in the wilderness? He used God’s word. Each time, he said, It Is Written, then he quoted the scriptures.

Today, there are many different opinions about religion, the Bible, human nature, the beginning of time, and many other things. Too often, people put their own interpretations on the things we deal with in life, and too often, we develop our beliefs by following our emotions. I’ve talked to many people about God and the Bible who say they believe what they believe because that’s what they’ve always believed. I’ve talked to people who believe what they believe because of things they saw in a movie years ago.

I’ve loved Bible movies since I was a kid, but sadly, I’ve never seen one that was 100% biblically accurate. There always seem to be errors or at least misinterpretations in the script, especially when they add dialogue that's not in the Bible. I understand why the writers add words in a movie, but sometimes I wonder if they’ve even read the Bible or if they’re just telling a story that they grew up hearing. I mean, sometimes that’s exactly what it seems like.

Reading the Bible is very important. Knowing the truth can mean the difference between life and death; both physical and spiritual. We can be deceived in so many ways if we don’t read God’s word. Acts 17:11 tells us that the people of Berea were more noble than the people in Thessalonica because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was true, and that’s the way we should be today. There are so many foolish teachings that would be completely cleared up if we would only read and believe the Bible.

Let’s read the scriptures I mentioned at the beginning. Since I only generalize them there, we’ll now see that they have a much deeper meaning.

John 17:17

17 Make them holy through your truth. Your word is truth.

Jesus was talking to the Father here about his disciples. He asked the Father to make them holy through his word because his word is holy. So, to be holy we must read God’s word. Paul tells Timothy something similar in 2 Timothy 3:15.

2 Timothy 3:15

15 From childhood, you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Jesus, the Messiah.

So to be saved, we must believe in Jesus. To believe in Jesus we must read (or hear) about him, and get to know him through God’s word, the Bible. Can you see how important the Bible is? Look at the next verse.

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All scripture is inspired by God, and is helpful for teaching, for evidence, for correction, and for instruction in being holy:

These verses tell us that the Bible leads us to salvation, and then shows us how to live a holy life through Jesus. That's how important the Bible is.

John 8: 31-32

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and,

32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

There it is again; if we continue in his word or continue to read his word and follow it, and obey it, we will truly be his disciples, and by reading God’s word, we'll know the truth, and we'll be set free by the truth. Don’t you want to be set free? Don’t you want to know the truth? Lies deceive us, but the truth sets us free from those lies and deception. Knowing that God’s word is truth, we should want to read and know God’s word so we can be saved, live a holy life, and protect ourselves from being deceived by Satan and his minions.

Find time to read the Bible every day, if only for a few minutes. You’ll soon find yourself spending more time reading, and loving it. Yeah, it’s really that simple to start. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so don’t delay. Start today. God bless you.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2024 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

GOING HOME

I’ve always found it interesting that one thing can remind us of another so much that it makes us say, Wow! That happens to me quite often. I was studying the Bible a while back and came to the story where the people of God were taken by force from their home and relocated to Babylon. Immediately I was reminded of a time in my life when I was taken by force from my home and relocated to another place.

I was eight years old when two of my sisters and I were taken from our home and put into foster care. Two of us were placed with the same family, while our youngest sister, at the time, was placed with another family on the other side of town from us. When we were older, I found out that we were there for less than two months, but back then, it had felt like an eternity.

Like the captives of King Nebuchadnezzar, we were not happy to be torn away from all we had ever known, moved to a place where we had never been, and where we knew no one.

Like those Jews, we did enjoy some freedoms, but things weren’t all roses. Everything was so different there. We were in another town. We were with people we didn’t know, and we were sent to a different school. We were totally cut off from our family and friends, just like the Children of Israel when they were taken captive.

I know some of those Jews trusted God without any doubts, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but I can imagine some of them were just as afraid as we were and felt just as helpless as we did. We were so sad. I remember crying at night and calling out to God. I prayed every day and begged Him to rescue us and take us back home.

One afternoon when we got off the school bus at our foster home, a man was waiting there for us. I’ll never forget the joy I felt when he told us he had come to take us home. We grabbed our things as quickly as we could and got in his car. We drove to the other side of town and picked up our sister, then we were on our way.

When we arrived, our grandmother was waiting for us with open arms, and she showered us with hugs and kisses. We were so happy to see her again. We were so glad to be back home.

Our world has been captured by Satan and his forces, and we are his captives. When we recognize there is hope for us to be rescued, we call out to God and he saves us. Not because we’re good, and not because we deserve anything good, but simply because he loves us. God is so good, and I look forward to the day when he comes and takes us to our heavenly home so we can truly be free. He said he would someday. In John 14:2-3, he said,

14:2 There is plenty of room in my Father’s house. If not, I would have told you. I will go and prepare a place for you.
14:3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to myself, so that wherever I am, you may be also.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says,
16 Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and those who are dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who remain alive will be taken up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.

In verse 18, Paul tells us to comfort each other with these words. Jesus is coming back to take us home. That’s something to look forward to. I’m looking forward to that day with great anticipation, and I don’t believe we’ll have to wait much longer. Are you ready? If not, don’t wait. Get ready now. He could return at any time. As the words of the old song say, “In a little while we’re going home.”

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

6 DAYS OF CREATION OR 6000 YEARS?

“In the beginning, GOD created the heaven and the earth.” That’s the introduction line to the creation story from Genesis, the first book in the Holy Bible. In the article titled *IN THE BEGINNING, we saw what the Bible means by “In The Beginning.” It refers to the time when God created our solar system, with the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the planets, including the earth, and everything in it. In the article called *IS THE BIBLE REALLY GOD’S WORD? We also established that the Bible really was prepared for us by God, and has been preserved for us for about six thousand years. The men who wrote the Bible were inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit of God, and he inspired them with what to write (2 Timothy 3:16 & 2 Peter 1:21).

For this study, we’ll look at the Six Days of Creation. There are several beliefs about the beginning of our world. You’ve probably heard all of them that I have, but only one of them can be true. I believe God created everything just like the Bible says, so I reject the Evolution Theory, and that’s all it is; a theory. If you believe in Evolution, please stay with me. I want you to see that the Bible can be trusted, and so can God. By the way, I once believed in Evolution, but God led me to the truth through his word.

The strange thing is, I believed in God as well as evolution, and I saw no conflict with believing in both. Then, I started studying the Bible, and it all made perfect sense. Today, many Christians, who love God, are embracing Evolution as a possible way for our world to have become populated. This lessens God’s role and really makes him just another god among many. Some have embraced the teaching that each day of the creation week lasted a thousand years. Others believe the six days were just extended periods of time, which could have been millions of years. Neither group believes these were six literal, twenty-four-hour days. These beliefs and teachings are destroying people’s faith in God and the Bible, and it’s being done from within the church as well as from without.

How do we fix this problem? Well, I truly believe the main problem is that people don’t read and study the Bible. Some may listen to a preacher speak once or twice a week, but never study to see if what they’re being told is true or not. This is happening more and more. The solution is for everyone to grab a Bible, and start reading and studying so we can all understand for ourselves what God has to say to us in his Holy Book.

The Apostle Paul said the people who lived in the town of Berea studied the scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was true (Acts 17:11). That’s exactly what all of us need to be doing today. It’s the only way to avoid being deceived.

Using less than ten references from the Bible, we’ll see that the creation week WAS six literal days, and NOT six thousand years, or any extended period of time.

2 Peter 3:7-9
7. But 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 of ungodly men.
8. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Psalms 90:2-4
2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or before you ever had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
3. You turn man to destruction; and say Return, you children of men.
4. For a thousand years in your sight are only as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Neither of these scriptures says a thousand years IS a day.
The “thousand years are AS one day” simply means God is not restrained by time. God is everlasting, and has always existed and always will. In his scope of time, a thousand years is only a moment. That’s what these verses mean. The following verses show that the six days of creation week WERE literal 24-hour days.

Genesis 1:1
1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4. And God saw the light, and saw that it was good: and God separated the light from the darkness.
5. And God called the light Day, and he called the darkness, Night. And the evening and the morning was the first day.

8. ….And the evening and the morning was the second day.
13. And the evening and the morning was the third day.
19. And the evening and the morning was the fourth day.
23. And the evening and the morning was the fifth day.
31. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning was the sixth day.

Evening and Morning = Night and Day = A literal day.

The next verses give even more proof.

Exodus 20:8-11
8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work:
10. But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: in it, you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your gates:
11. Because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and he rested the Seventh day: Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:16-18
16. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the Seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

When we obey God and keep the Sabbath every week, we’re not celebrating to commemorate the fact that God created everything in 6,000 years. No, these verses tell us that he created the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them, in six literal days. Then he rested on the Seventh-day. This is where the seven-day week comes from. So we see from the Bible that God created the heavens and the earth, actually our solar system, in six literal days.

*IN THE BEGINNING

*IS THE BIBLE REALLY GOD’S WORD?

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2014 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @  https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6