Benefits of Bible Study

“There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures. If God’s word were studied as it should be, men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose rarely seen in these times”
E.G White, Steps to Christ, p90

My Letter to God

Lord, Help me know You even as I am known. Help me know who you really are. May I be completely disatisfied with the world. Take away all my pretence Lord, and may I be BORN AGAIN. Regain the ground that I've given to the devil, Lord. Draw me into Thy holy presence and keep me there.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple." Psalm 27:4

Is Jesus Enough???

Why do we feel so empty at times? Why do we have the desire to love and be loved by others? Can marriage really meet our heart's deepest desire for companionship? If marriage and human relationships is all we need to be happy, satisfied and fulfilled, why then are some married people so unhappy? Why are Hollywood stars who have all the wealth and beautiful women so unhappy?

For every desire, there is something to satisfy it. We have sexual desires and there is sex to satisfy it. We feel hungry and there is food to satisfy the hunger. Therefore, could it be that since our desire for love can not be completely met by mere human relationship, could it be that they are meant for someone else? Someone greater and bigger than life itself? Someone infinite? C.S. Lewis and Augustine of Hippo give us insight into these fundamental questions:

"You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee." Augustine of Hippo

"There is a God-shaped void in each one of our hearts. Only God can fill it." C.S Lewis.

Jesus in His interaction with the Samaritan women finally answers the question. "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to the, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water......... Jesus answered and said to her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:10,13-14.

God made us so that He might be our "Immanuel", God with Us. So that He might dwell among us and indwell us. Our heart's deepest desire for companionship is not for her/him, but for God. And nothing else can do. We are wired to love Him and be satisfied in Him, thus the conclusion by C.S Lewis that " there is a God-shaped void in each one of us." We will never be happy and satisfied with any other form of relationship until we fall in love with God first. It is no accident that Adam had to be put to sleep while God created Eve. He wanted them to fall in love with Him( God) first before falling in love with each other (Adam & Eve). How do you tell true love from fake love? When you taste God's love first, and that becomes the standard of measure of true love. "Seek ye the Kingdom of heaven first and all shall be added unto you." Earthly relationships will become even more meaningful and satisfy because they will then occupy their rightful place in our lives.

"Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isaiah 55:2

He is the bread of life. May our taste buds be transformed and our appetites changed so that we may, with all our heart and soul, hunger and desire after Him. He is the true bread sent from heaven and He will surely satisfy us. He is the water of life. If we drink of Him, we will never thirst again. And finally, He is the light of the world. If we accept Him, He will guide us through life's dark paths. So, is Jesus enough? YES He is. He is the true light, the rest are simply beams of light, He is the true object and the rest are just shadows. He is Immanuel, God with us.

May God never let me/us fall in love with anyone else until I/we are happy in HIM. He is all that we need and the rest are simply shadows of the real thing.

Education Through the Eyes of Faith

"He who studies most deeply into the mysteries of nature will realize most fully his own ignorance and weakness. He will realize that there are depths and heights which he cannot reach, secrets which he cannot penetrate, vast fields of truth lying before him unentered. He will be ready to say, with Newton, "I seem to myself to have been like a child on the seashore finding pebbles and shells, while the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me."
The deepest students of science are constrained to recognize in nature the working of infinite power. But to man's unaided reason, nature's teaching cannot but be contradictory and disappointing. Only in the light of revelation can it be read aright. "Through faith we understand." Hebrews 11:3.
"In the beginning God." Genesis 1:1. Here alone can the mind in its eager questioning, fleeing as the dove to the ark, find rest. Above, beneath, beyond, abides Infinite Love, working out all things to accomplish "the good pleasure of His goodness." 2 Thessalonians 1:11."
- Education p. 134

God has provided in His word the means for mental and spiritual development. The Bible contains all the principles that men need to understand in order to be fitted either for this life or for the life to come. Ed 123.

“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean. Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives; to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labour for, or set our hearts on, any thing else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?”

Jonathan Edwards, “The Christian Pilgrim,” in The Works

of Jonathan Edwards, ed. Edward Hickman, 2:244.

“What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain understanding must precede every action. The thing is to

understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do…What good would it do me if the truth stood before me, cold and naked, not caring whether I recognized her or not, and

producing in me a shudder of fear rather than a trusting devotion?Must not the truth be taken up into my life? That is what I now recognize as the most important thing.”

Kierkegaard quoted in Charles E. Moore, Introduction to “Provocations”