Where will you be most happy?

 Where will you be most happy?

Jesus said,

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36.

I think most people do not think much about Jesus and salvation. I would even go as far as saying many don’t even know what salvation means in a Christian sense. 

Most are concentrated on the here and now. On improving their way of life. Trying to find personal satisfaction by earning large amounts of money. By buying luxurious hoses and expensive cars.

Now there is nothing wrong with being rich or having luxurious material goods. The apostle Paul tells us,

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.

Jesus tells us,

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 16:19-21.

We as individuals must chose where we will store our treasure. In heaven or on this earth.

Where we will be most happy.

Tony Campolo wrote,

"When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?” Tony Campolo

Please think about it.

God, Jesus, & Creation

 God, Jesus & Creation
“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.” Job 26:7
Job got it right.
In the above photographs, one taken by Apollo 17 from the vantage point of the moon we can see that the Earth is indeed suspended over nothing.
The second picture backs this up. It was taken by the space probe Voyager billions of kilometres from earth, as it left the solar system.
The Voyager picture also shows how small and potentially insignificant earth looks to be in the vastness of the cosmos.
The late Carl Sagan who convinced N.A.S.A. to take this picture said,
“From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” Carl Sagan.
Sagan is right if you think in strictly human terms that “mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam” is all we have. But it is not all we have. There is more.
There is a God who created it all.
Physicist Dr. Paul Davies who once promoted Atheism, after examining the evidence around creation said,
“[There] is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all it seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe. The impression of design is overwhelming”Dr. Paul Davies.
Stephen Hawking by far one of the greatest minds ever to live, commenting on how the universe began said,
“It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us,” Stephen Hawking.
These men have looked into the heavens and come to the same conclusion as the Psalmist who wrote,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 

                                                                                      Psalm 19:1-3.

The Apostle Paul speaking the learned men in Athens said,
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:22-32.
The book of Acts then goes on to note how those who had listened to Paul reacted. It noted,,
“When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  
At that, Paul left the Council.  
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others”Acts 17:22-34.
Thus my question to you the reader becomes if you were listening to the Apostle Paul that day which group would you be in?
Would you sneer at the thought of the resurrection? Would you want to hear more on the subject? Would you, do you believe what Paul said?
The choice is yours. Please think about it.

You, Your Treasure and God

You, Your Treasure and God
Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:19-24.
Where is your real treasure? Jesus states here that we are to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Noting that where our treasure is there will be our heart.
Now let me state there is nothing wrong with having wealth in this world. The apostle Paul makes it clear,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
Note Paul states “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” That it has caused some to wander from the faith. This is what Jesus is alluding too.
Wealth in and of itself is not evil or good. Money and material things can be used both for good and bad. It can also keep you from getting to heaven depending on what your relationship with your wealth is.
Our true treasure must be laid up in heaven.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” 
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  
   Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” Hebrews 13:5-8.
As a Christian I believe we should be content with what we have at any given time.
Now there’s nothing wrong with wanting to better our position in life. At the same time however the urge to better ourselves should never pull us away from our faith, or cause us to harm  others in any way.
Jesus told this parable,
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  
At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores  and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  
In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  
So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house,  
for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 
“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ” Luke 16:19-31.
Thus my question to you the reader is, Where is your treasure?
Please think about it.

God Created

God Created
The Book of Genesis tells us,

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 

Genesis 1:1

Paul Dirac said,

“God used beautiful mathematics in creating the world.” 

Paul Dirac

I am a Christian. I have read the Bible. At the same time I am a firm believer in that science done correctly will give proof God created the heavens and the Earth.
The Psalmist states,

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

 the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 

Psalm 19:1-3

I am told by scientist that the earth is at the exact place not only in the solar system to sustain life as we know it, but in the exact place in the universe.
The scientists are showing that the universe is mathematically perfect. We may not have all the correct formulas for predicting things that happen in the universe yet, but given enough time that will happen.
The perfection of the universe to sustain life as we know it, to my way of thinking points to the universe being created by God.
Whether God used the big bang or any other means makes no difference. The fact remains God could have created the universe any way He wished.
What I would ask of those who are reading this and don’t believe in God or for that matter Christians who do believe in God, is look up on You Tube a couple of videos by Hugh Ross.
Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist who believes in God. Two of his videos use science to show God could create the universe. The Videos are “God and the Big Bang” and Genesis One and Natural History.
Please take time to both read the Bible and listen to these videos. Do so with an open mind and I believe God will show Himself to you.
Please think about it.