“Did God Really Say?”—When the Bible is not enough.<\/p>\n
For the first time I am attempting to put into words my lifelong observations of the most repeated pattern in all human history—man’s response to Satan’s first recorded words.<\/p>\n
All people have a built-in need to relate to God. Everyone falls into one of two categories in response to that need, and in response to the question, “Did God Really Say?”<\/p>\n
First Category:\u00a0 When the Bible Is Not<\/span><\/strong> Enough (four groups within this)<\/p>\n Atheists attempt to avoid the question by avoiding God altogether.\u00a0 The only way to do that is to claim He doesn’t exist.\u00a0 But that nagging universal need inside to relate to God, forces the atheists to prove there is no God.\u00a0 Man can neither create the existence of God nor eliminate the existence of God–all we can do is talk and respond to what God said, including:\u00a0 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”\u00a0 It is impossible for God to exist for some people and not exist for other people.\u00a0 So, for atheists:<\/p>\n Q: DGRS?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A:\u00a0 What God?<\/p>\n – Two –\u00a0 Alter<\/span> the Bible (religions)<\/p>\n All people in all human history create religions to try to reach God and get on His good side.\u00a0 Parallels and counterfeits to the Bible make some believe all religions will end up in the same place because they try, and seem to say the same thing.\u00a0 Any basic, honest study of world religions gives crystal clear conclusions to the title question above.\u00a0 All religions reject the Bible when they do not accept it in its entirety and in its exclusivity.\u00a0 So, for religions:<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0 DGRS?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A:\u00a0 We made our own God.<\/p>\n – Three – Add<\/span> to the Bible (cults)<\/p>\n These people are compelled to complicate the simple message from God in the Bible, by adding rules or teachings or leaders that make them exclusive.\u00a0 Their followers feel special as part of an elite group with a belief system superior to the Bible alone.\u00a0 So, for cults:<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0 DGRS?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A:\u00a0 We know better.<\/p>\n – Four – Amplify<\/span> the Bible (theologians)<\/p>\n Again, all through history, these learned people who claim to believe the Bible, spend a lifetime explaining the Bible, often eloquently and impressively.\u00a0 Then a strange thing happens, repeatedly with periodic certainty.\u00a0 These “explainers” of God’s book put more weight on their explanations than on the Bible itself, and their followers lose the distinction between God’s Word and man’s word.\u00a0 The cause, and the result, is people not reading their own Bibles.\u00a0 (From time to time, someone comes along and cleans things up—Jesus, Paul, Luther—but soon the pattern repeats)\u00a0 So, for theologians:<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0 DGRS?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A:\u00a0 We have to tell people what God really said.<\/p>\n OR:<\/p>\n Second Category:\u00a0 When the Bible Is<\/span><\/strong> Enough (only one group here)<\/p>\n – One – Accept<\/span> the Bible (believers)<\/p>\n Some people believe God did really say the whole Bible.\u00a0 But that is not what makes it true.\u00a0 Just as in the atheists section above, we can do nothing to make the Bible true or untrue.\u00a0 We can only believe it or reject it.<\/p>\n “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”<\/p>\n “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”<\/p>\n “I am the way, the truth, and the life.\u00a0 No one comes to the Father except by me.”\u00a0 —Jesus<\/p>\n So, for believers:<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0 DGRS?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A:\u00a0 Enough said.<\/p>\n For me personally:<\/p>\n God said it<\/p>\n That settles it.<\/p>\n So I believe it.<\/p>\n Thank You, Jesus.<\/p>\n DID GOD REALLY SAY?<\/p>\n The answer is not a variable that can change from one person to the next.<\/p>\n Putting it another way, “Either you’re on the ark, or you’re off the ark.”<\/p>\n Remember, God closed the door on the ark.<\/p>\n God said it was going to rain.<\/p>\n God made it rain—one time water.<\/p>\n God made it rain—one time fire and brimstone.<\/p>\n Man has invented pretty impressive bombs, and sometimes pretty impressive ideas (he thinks), but God has the last word (and the last bomb when necessary).<\/p>\n His first word was all impressive,\u00a0 “Let there be . . . ”\u00a0\u00a0 We weren’t there, but we can all see what that first word created.\u00a0 Someday, every one of us will be there for His final word.<\/p>\n Don’t debate Him then.<\/p>\n Don’t doubt Him now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Did God Really Say?”—When the Bible is not enough. For the first time I am attempting to put into words my lifelong observations of the most repeated pattern in all human history—man’s response to Satan’s first recorded words. All people have a built-in need to relate to God. Everyone falls into one of two categories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith_based","category-inspire_lifter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7514,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions\/7514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}