The Truth..Soul cont'd (5)

Job was a very faithful servant but everything he had physically was taken away. He was even stricken with a skin disease. However, even thru all his struggles he never cursed God. I always wondered what was God trying to let Job know thru his situations. In Job 38:1-4, 21, it reads, Then the Lord answered Job out of a storm. He said, Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man, I will question you and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you undertand.
God asked Job where was he when he laid the earth's foundation. If we think about it, when a house is being built, the foundation gets built first before the entire house is constructed. However, when God asked Job where was he, the earth was not fully completed. Personally, I would not have known how to answer this question let alone attempt to answer it. Job, who existed around 1500 BC could not anwer God. Instead, God let him know in verse 21 that "Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
Physically, Job existed around 1500BC but God let him understand that he was an angel in heaven at the time God laid the earth's foundation. Once again, Wow! God's words are so moving. Thru King Solomon and Job, God is also letting us know that we were all angels in the kingdom of heaven rejoicing day after day. But wait a minute, if we were rejoicing with GOD in heaven day after day THEN why are we here on this earth experiencing sorrow, pain and suffering? Thru Jesus' coming 2000 years ago, we can find out why.

The Truth..Soul cont'd (4)

In my previous blog, we were allowed so much understanding from GOD. Thru the wisdom given to King Solomon from God, he clearly testified that he was in heaven before with God. Let's see more testimony thru the Bible that we were in heaven before thru the story of Job. Do you know about Job? (Please refernce Job 1:1-22, 2:1-10) He was a very faithful servant of God. He had a large family, vast lands, abundant livestock and many servants. He was blessed by God. However, Satan presented himself before the Lord and said that Job was blameless and upright because God had given him everything. Satan was sure that if everything physically was taken away from Job, he would curse God. God allowed Satan to take everything away with the exception of laying a finger on Job. As a result, everything that Job had physically was taken away even his sons and daughters. However, Job did not curse God, rather, he shaved his head and tore his robe and worshipped God.
Job's second test came about when Satan again presented himself before the Lord. Satan was adament that Job would curse God if his flesh was struck. God allowed Satan to strike his flesh but to spare Job's life. As a result, Job was afflicted with painful sores all over his body that he even took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself. His wife, at this point told Job to curse God. However, even in this painful circumstance Job did not curse God.
Then, thru all this what was Job feeling?

The Truth..Soul cont'd (3)

Did you figure out who were the two figures that GOD used to give testimony that we were in heaven before?..... One of them is King Solomon! To give you a brief history about King Solomon; at an early age, he was given a kingdom to rule over. King Solomon, prayed eagerly and offered 1,000 sacrifices to God and asked God for wisdom on how to correctly rule over God's people. God was moved and gave King Solomon wisdom. Thru God's wisdom given to King Solomon, let's understand about the fact that we were in heaven before thru the book of Proverbs.
The book of Proverbs are of King Solomon (Proverbs 1:1)In Proverbs 8:22-23, it reads, The Lord brought me forth as the first of His works before His deeds of old. I (King Solomon) was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. King Solomon said he was appointed from eternity. When we think about eternity, there is only one place that it exists-in the kingdom of heaven, right? He also said that he was appointed before the world began. Scientifically, the world is dated to be 4.5 billion years old but King Solomon said he existed before the world began! He lived at the time of 950 BC. Is it physically possible to exist in 950 BC and be appointed before the world began? Naturally, King Solomon is not referencing his physical body but his true essence- his soul. If we continue in the same book, verses 24-26 it reads, When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I (King Solomon) was given birth, before He made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. Let's understand this verse by verse. In verse 24, there are no oceans or springs-basically there is no water! Water is an essential element that human beings cannot live without. We use it to cook, bathe, drink etc.. Even our bodies are made up of approximately 75% water. How important is water for our vital physical existance? Very important! But King Solomon said there was no water!? How can this happen? Again, King Solomon is not speaking physically but spiritually! He was given spiritual birth. In verse 26, before the earth was formed, King Solomon existed. Moreover, before there was any dust, King Solomon existed. As we read in Genesis 2:7, one of the two elements that man is made up of is dust (body). Clearly, he existed before anybody was physically formed. Thru these verses we can understand that King Solomon was in heaven before. How did King Solomon feel in the kingdom of heaven? verse 30 reads" Then I was a craftsman at His side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence. King Solomon was a craftsman (builder) by GOD's side. He rejoiced not sometimes but day after day by God's side in heaven! How incredible is this! There is another testimony from a faithful servant to GOD. Do you know who he is?

The Truth..Soul cont'd (2)

In my previous blog, I left you with one very important question ..."what happens to our souls? Does it stay with the body or go somewhere else?....... If you go to the book of Ecclesiates 12:7, it reads " and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to GOD who gave it". Wow! God said "and the spirit returns to GOD who gave it". If the spirit returns to GOD, then where is God? Yes, GOD is everywhere because They are omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent! But, where is God's kingdom? In Ecclesiastes 5:2 it reads "... GOD is in heaven..."
Now, if we focus on the word return it means to go back to a place we have been to before. So, if I ask you, have you been to Europe before and you reply no, then obviously you have never been there before. In the same token, if I ask you, will you be returning to work tomorrow and you reply yes, then obviously you have been to work before. Considering this, God said our spirits return to GOD in heaven!!! How AMAZING!!! My soul, your soul, everyone's soul was in heaven before. We were angels in the kingdom of heaven with GOD Almighty! Did you know this before? How powerful and truly amazing are God's words! Actually, God allowed us to see more testimony confirming the fact that we were in heaven thru two recognized figures in the Old Testament. Do you know who they are?

The Truth.. Our souls

In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that thru the Bible, God allows us understanding about our true essence-our soul. Many religions nowadays study about the soul but there is not a clear cut uniformity in the teachings of the soul. In Romans 6:23,".. the wages of sin is death . Because of sin, we all face the inevitable; whether rich or poor, tall or short, blue or brown eyed. Since death touches each and everyone one of us at one point in our lives, then what sin did we commit? where did we commit it? And what does our sin have to do with our soul? By studying about our souls thru the Bible, God allows us a clear understanding of where our souls actually came from and where we are going.
To understand this, in the book of Genesis 2:7, it reads, The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. Here we see that God made a living being out of two specific elements: dust of the ground and breath of life. As a result of these two elements, man became a living being. Apparently, we living beings are not literally made of dust but just like dust that you can see, smell and touch, what on us shares the same characteristics???? Our body! Then what about the breath of life? If you think about an impending rain storm, you will first see the trees swaying helplessly. What is causing the trees to sway? The wind, right? But, do you see the wind? Do you feel the wind? Then, just like the wind, that you cannot see but you know it is there, what in us shares the same characteristics??? Our soul! When the inevitable (death) happens, our bodies return to the ground. However, what happens to our souls? Does it stay with the body or go somewhere else?.......

The TRUTH..... Our souls

In my last blog, I mentioned about the TELEPHONE game. Thru this game, I realized that GOD's message,which never changes, is seen, read and proclaimed about directly from the Bible. So far, I have learned the Truth about the Sabbath day>Saturday>7th day. In the Bible, it is the true day of worship where God gives rest, blessings, hoiliness and a sign between us and Him. Another truth I want to share is about a secret. When I was little, I would always ask my friends, Can you keep a secret? Most of the time, though, the secret was revealed. Thank GOD that the secret I will be sharing with you was revealed due to God's boundless mercy.
Have you ever pondered at one point in your life why do we dwell on this earth? Why is there so much pain, trouble and sorrow? Why, no matter how much prestige, power and fame someone may have in this world, it's still not enough to attain true and complete happiness? In order to fully understand the why's in this world, God wants us to understand the existance of our souls. Sure, we have a physical existance but there is one other element that makes up our true essence- thru God's words, let's have a careful study about our souls...

The TRUTH.....Understanding

Have you ever played the game TELEPHONE? If you haven't it goes something like this. When in a group, one person will start off TELEPHONE. This person will whisper a message in a person's ear and then that person will pass along that same message to the next person and so on.... The object of the game is for the last person to say the message out loud. However, 100% of the times, the original message along the way became distorted. Some people may have added words while some people have taken words away.
Thru this game, GOD allowed me realization about the precious Truth that is in the Bible. GOD never changed His message. GOD never changed His Truth. In fact, it has always been there. In the book of Revelation 22:18-19, God said" I warn everyone who hears of the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, GOD will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words anyway from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book .
In my previous posting, I mentioned that a warning is actually good for us. God is letting us know that contained within the 66 books of the Bible, are His words. His words are perfect. His words are absolute. His words leads us to Him. Even though HIS original message has been changed by man, just like the game Telephone, we must go to the original source to grasp the original message . Thank you God, for allowing me this understanding.

The TRUTH.. Sabbath(2)

A couple of days ago, I shared with you all my great experience of learning about the Sabbath Day> Saturday> 7th day. If you recall, only on this day did GOD promise rest, blessings and holiness! I was sooo excited to share this great news with everyone I knew. Much to my suprise, in speaking to many of my family members and friends, they were comfortable with keeping man's tradition of Sunday. Even though I couldn't remember all of the verses, I was confident in this one thing- I saw it in the Bible. Further to the study I had a couple of days ago, there is definately more that I really want to share.
In addition, to the rest, blessings and holiness that God promises on the Sabbath day, in Exodus 31:13, God said that the Sabbath will be a sign between us &God. How amazing is that! God acknowledges those who keep the Sabbath day. In our daily lives, we encounter all different types of signs; whether it's the STOP sign at the end of the corner, whether it's going to rain because of the cloudy skies above or whether a cold is coming on because of an ongoing cough. The more I think about, a sign is a warning but not in a bad way. A sign alerts us to be mindful, to be aware.However, if I am not mindful of the cloudy skies, I have a 99% chance of getting soaked. In the same way, GOD wants us to be mindful of keeping the Sabbath day. Thank you GOD for allowing me to look up and recognize your sign.

The TRUTH... Sabbath

Wow! I just had my first Bible study today and I am really motivated to share with you about GOD's precious promise that has it's origination from GOD's creation work.
If you ask anyone in the the world what their favorite/lucky number is, 9 out of 10 times they will tell you the number 7. Why? This number has a special significance in the Bible. From the creation of the world, in
Genesis 2:1-3, we can clearly see the origination of the Sabbath day>7th day> Saturday. But how? On the 7th day, GOD promised three very important things: Rest, blessings and holiness. When we proceed even further in Exodus 20:8-11 (the 4th Commandment), GOD empahsizes the 7th day again naming it the Sabbath day. What is very unique about the first word of the 4th commandment is when GOD tells us to "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." GOD does not want us to forget the Sabbath day.
We understand that the 7th day is the Sabbath day but how does the 7th day equate to Saturday? Thru the calendar, dictionary and most importantly the Bible, the 7th day IS Saturday. In Mark 16:9, Jesus Christ rose (resurrected) on the first day (Sunday) of the week. For further clarification, in Mark 16:1-2, the Sabbath (7th day) was over... and in verse 2, then the first day (Sunday) of the week came. Wow, this is truly amazing! Without a doubt, GOD said that the promise of rest, blessings and holiness is on the Sabbath day>7th day> Saturday.
Although this message is so clear, then why do so many worship on Sunday the first day of the week? In John 8:47, in order for us to belong to GOD, we must hear what GOD says. Therefore, since GOD said that the Sabbath day>7th day is Saturday , I want to hear what GOD says because I want to belong GOD.
Thank GOD for allowing me this fundamental understanding.

The TRUTH.....

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I am a 19 yr old college student majoring in Sociology. I picked Sociology because I agreed with its theories of the world's problems being based on social factors. However, the deepest part within me felt like there was something more. There had to be something more out there. I've always pondered upon these two simple yet complex questons: Why is there so much sadness and hate in thie world? And why, despite all of the progress & contributions that women have made through all of the years, is this still a male doimated society? Today, folks, I found the answers. Rather I should say, the Truth found me.
While reviewing my syllabus, I overhead a young female speaking to another student about the Bible. I pretended to read my syllabus when all the while my ears were attentive to their conversation. As I listened, to my surprise, amazement and curiousity, the answers to the above questions came to light. My heart was pounding as the young lady eagerly turned the pages of the Bible and wholeheartedly read the verses. . I was startled by a phone call but I refused to pick it up. Allof a sudden, the young lady was thanking the student for her time. It seemed that the student considered other priorities. I reluctantly shifted my focus back to my syllabus just for a moment when I looked up and saw the young lady!
As we spoke, as the Bible verses came to life, questions flooded my thoughts? We were angels in Heaven before? We were with GOD Almighty? We rejoiced day after day? There is a female image of GOD in the Bible? In the book of Genesis? Admittingly, I have tried to read the whole Bible, but I could never get thru the first couple of pages. How can anyone understand any book without actually having the Author tell his/her audience what he/she meant? Inevitably, her invitation to study more was not an option but Priority #1. I will blog again once I get my first full study....... Stay tuned.......