Jupiter is a really, really BIG planet! It is so big that some 1,300 "Earth's" could fit into it. That is really, really, really big.
I drove from El Paso to Houston one day. I left at 8:00 in the morning and got into Houston at 11:30 at night. I thought Texas was really, really big (and flat too). A few years later, I flew from Los Angeles to Miami and then on to Santiago, Chile and I thought our planet Earth was really, really big.
But Jupiter is huge! The State of Texas would be just a fly speck upon its surface. It might take you a month to fly around it's equatorial bulge. But, did you know that despite Jupiter's large size, it is far too small to become a star. By comparison, our own medium size Sun could contain 1,000,000 Earths, not the mere 1,300 Earths that we could put into Jupiter. If you really want to talk big, very big, the largest "big" in the universe and the largest (at the moment) accurately determined stellar mass of a star, known as V382 Cygni, is 27 times that of our own Sun. You will have to figure out how many Earth's would fit into V382 Cygni. I think it comes out to about 27,000,000. If you have a hard time figuring out a God who created an ant or an elephant, how do you handle a God who creates V382 Cygni. Maybe it is easier to say, "Well, it must have all just happened." I know what you are thinking. You are saying, "It is just too hard for me to believe some 'God' out there created all this stuff." But those seem to be our only two choices wouldn't you say; a God who created, or random chance acts that produced it all.
If there is a God who created our universe and wants to involve Himself in our lives – should we not pay attention to Him.
Bartimaeus was a blind man (Matt. 10:46). Now, the eye is a marvelous organ in the animal kingdom, absolutely unique in many species, providing sight to all kinds of creatures from bees to eagles to elephants to the octopus, and of course to mankind. The human eye provides one of the five senses that allow us to enjoy life to its fullest. From seeing the hues of the rainbow and flower beds, to watching the movements of people as we extend a hand or wink an eye. This son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadway to Jericho when he made such a racket that Jesus who was walking by turned aside and asked him what he wanted. The answer came back, "I want to see again." And Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." And immediately this blind beggar could see. I like the word "immediately" here. It did not take 3 months of applying a "miracle" cream, or 2 weeks of facial exercises. No, it was immediately. Now, you could say that Jesus created such an emotional moment Bartimaeus body just went into overload status, or Jesus hit him behind the head in just the right spot to move a damaged nerve, but that seems far fetched don't you think. Almost as far fetched as a man saying "Your faith has made you whole." and the man immediately being able to see.
If there is a God who came to Earth and creates sight in those who call upon His name – should we not pay attention to Him.
Lazarus was dead. His cold lifeless body lay in the tomb for four days. His sisters said, "Leave him be, by this time he smells." I suppose people could be sick and comatose for a day or two and then miraculously appear at the front door of their tomb. But Lazarus had been tightly wrapped in the cloth burial windings of death with spices. He had been ritually prepared for the typical Jewish burial. And, here comes this itinerant preacher, the supposed son of a carpenter, named Jesus, standing at the entrance to the tomb and saying, "Lazarus, come forth." Folks, I have been to a lot of funerals in my 62 years. I have never seen or heard anyone stand up and say something like that. And, I have never seen anyone laid out in their coffin move as much as an eyelash, no matter who was saying anything about them, good or bad. I think most of us know that dead is dead, that when you are finally four days gone, you are really finally gone, and you won't be back. Well, I don't know whether I would rather have been inside the tomb and watched Lazarus begin to rise and move toward the voice of the one who spoke the command, or outside the tomb watching everyone when Lazarus came out of the tomb. Either way, it would have made the goosebumps run wild on that day, and many days yet to come. I don't think I could ever have looked at Lazarus the same way again. I guess you could say he was in a coma or something for four days. Maybe you could say as in Romeo and Juliet someone slipped him a potion that put him out for four days. I suppose that is easier than saying Jesus showed up and told this dead body to rise again. It makes the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John one of my favorites.
If there is a God who makes the dead to live again – should we not pay attention to Him.
Nicodemus is a unique person in scripture. Like all of us, he was blind and he was dead, yet he knew it not. He represented all of us the night he came to see Jesus. He was Religious and Respectable, yet did not know how to really please God and to be accepted into His kingdom. To Nicodemus Jesus uttered the most profound words ever heard by human ear, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). People have not liked those words from the time they were first spoken some 2000 years ago. The words basically imply that "what we are" is not enough. That what we "do" will never measure up. That it will take something else, delivered by Someone Else, to make up the difference.
Boy, do good people, particularly religious people, have a hard time with this. So, Nicodemus is a good example for us. He was ultra religious, and he was a very good man – but that was not going to be enough to make him "right" with God. He had to also be "born again." The obvious question then is, "how do I become born again?" Well, you can read the rest of the 3rd Chapter of John in the New Testament to figure that one out. It is like I always told my kids, "the light bulb may be perfect in every way, but if there is no light switch thrown so the electricity can flow through the filament, that light bulb is never going to be "born again." It is a useless and (spiritually) dead light bulb. Corny, but true. God must throw the switch so His spiritual electricity and energy can flow in you and through you to cause you to be "born again." And, you will know when it happens to you.
If there is a God who wants to breathe life into all who are spiritually dead – you should make sure it happens to you.
Just think, the same energy that created the universe, made a blind man see, and brought a dead man out of his tomb, is the very same energy that God brings into our lives to transform a spiritually dead man or woman into a new creation in Christ Jesus. It's hard to explain being "born again" to people who have not had the experience. But, that is the beauty of the experience. It is like watching your first child being born. It is better felt, than telt as they say.
And it is the difference between life, and death, for each of us.
I drove from El Paso to Houston one day. I left at 8:00 in the morning and got into Houston at 11:30 at night. I thought Texas was really, really big (and flat too). A few years later, I flew from Los Angeles to Miami and then on to Santiago, Chile and I thought our planet Earth was really, really big.
But Jupiter is huge! The State of Texas would be just a fly speck upon its surface. It might take you a month to fly around it's equatorial bulge. But, did you know that despite Jupiter's large size, it is far too small to become a star. By comparison, our own medium size Sun could contain 1,000,000 Earths, not the mere 1,300 Earths that we could put into Jupiter. If you really want to talk big, very big, the largest "big" in the universe and the largest (at the moment) accurately determined stellar mass of a star, known as V382 Cygni, is 27 times that of our own Sun. You will have to figure out how many Earth's would fit into V382 Cygni. I think it comes out to about 27,000,000. If you have a hard time figuring out a God who created an ant or an elephant, how do you handle a God who creates V382 Cygni. Maybe it is easier to say, "Well, it must have all just happened." I know what you are thinking. You are saying, "It is just too hard for me to believe some 'God' out there created all this stuff." But those seem to be our only two choices wouldn't you say; a God who created, or random chance acts that produced it all.
If there is a God who created our universe and wants to involve Himself in our lives – should we not pay attention to Him.
Bartimaeus was a blind man (Matt. 10:46). Now, the eye is a marvelous organ in the animal kingdom, absolutely unique in many species, providing sight to all kinds of creatures from bees to eagles to elephants to the octopus, and of course to mankind. The human eye provides one of the five senses that allow us to enjoy life to its fullest. From seeing the hues of the rainbow and flower beds, to watching the movements of people as we extend a hand or wink an eye. This son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadway to Jericho when he made such a racket that Jesus who was walking by turned aside and asked him what he wanted. The answer came back, "I want to see again." And Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." And immediately this blind beggar could see. I like the word "immediately" here. It did not take 3 months of applying a "miracle" cream, or 2 weeks of facial exercises. No, it was immediately. Now, you could say that Jesus created such an emotional moment Bartimaeus body just went into overload status, or Jesus hit him behind the head in just the right spot to move a damaged nerve, but that seems far fetched don't you think. Almost as far fetched as a man saying "Your faith has made you whole." and the man immediately being able to see.
If there is a God who came to Earth and creates sight in those who call upon His name – should we not pay attention to Him.
Lazarus was dead. His cold lifeless body lay in the tomb for four days. His sisters said, "Leave him be, by this time he smells." I suppose people could be sick and comatose for a day or two and then miraculously appear at the front door of their tomb. But Lazarus had been tightly wrapped in the cloth burial windings of death with spices. He had been ritually prepared for the typical Jewish burial. And, here comes this itinerant preacher, the supposed son of a carpenter, named Jesus, standing at the entrance to the tomb and saying, "Lazarus, come forth." Folks, I have been to a lot of funerals in my 62 years. I have never seen or heard anyone stand up and say something like that. And, I have never seen anyone laid out in their coffin move as much as an eyelash, no matter who was saying anything about them, good or bad. I think most of us know that dead is dead, that when you are finally four days gone, you are really finally gone, and you won't be back. Well, I don't know whether I would rather have been inside the tomb and watched Lazarus begin to rise and move toward the voice of the one who spoke the command, or outside the tomb watching everyone when Lazarus came out of the tomb. Either way, it would have made the goosebumps run wild on that day, and many days yet to come. I don't think I could ever have looked at Lazarus the same way again. I guess you could say he was in a coma or something for four days. Maybe you could say as in Romeo and Juliet someone slipped him a potion that put him out for four days. I suppose that is easier than saying Jesus showed up and told this dead body to rise again. It makes the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John one of my favorites.
If there is a God who makes the dead to live again – should we not pay attention to Him.
Nicodemus is a unique person in scripture. Like all of us, he was blind and he was dead, yet he knew it not. He represented all of us the night he came to see Jesus. He was Religious and Respectable, yet did not know how to really please God and to be accepted into His kingdom. To Nicodemus Jesus uttered the most profound words ever heard by human ear, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). People have not liked those words from the time they were first spoken some 2000 years ago. The words basically imply that "what we are" is not enough. That what we "do" will never measure up. That it will take something else, delivered by Someone Else, to make up the difference.
Boy, do good people, particularly religious people, have a hard time with this. So, Nicodemus is a good example for us. He was ultra religious, and he was a very good man – but that was not going to be enough to make him "right" with God. He had to also be "born again." The obvious question then is, "how do I become born again?" Well, you can read the rest of the 3rd Chapter of John in the New Testament to figure that one out. It is like I always told my kids, "the light bulb may be perfect in every way, but if there is no light switch thrown so the electricity can flow through the filament, that light bulb is never going to be "born again." It is a useless and (spiritually) dead light bulb. Corny, but true. God must throw the switch so His spiritual electricity and energy can flow in you and through you to cause you to be "born again." And, you will know when it happens to you.
If there is a God who wants to breathe life into all who are spiritually dead – you should make sure it happens to you.
Just think, the same energy that created the universe, made a blind man see, and brought a dead man out of his tomb, is the very same energy that God brings into our lives to transform a spiritually dead man or woman into a new creation in Christ Jesus. It's hard to explain being "born again" to people who have not had the experience. But, that is the beauty of the experience. It is like watching your first child being born. It is better felt, than telt as they say.
And it is the difference between life, and death, for each of us.
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