Read the Mind of God

    While I was a high school student I always wished that every math problem would have an easy short-cut solution. I still wish that everything can be dealt with a trouble-free formula. Even though I do not know whether my good wishes are common to all students or not I believe that some feel that I am scratching their itching area. You, also, might admit that you share a yearning that matches up to that of mine. In the same way numerous anxious people wonder in order to find special master keys that would unlock the whole mystery of religion.  Perplexed by inner restlessness, they constantly worry whether they will enjoy eternity with God or be doomed in hell forever. Perhaps the same restiveness identifies you with the unsure people who search for a single pass-word that qualifies them to read God’s mind concerning their future destiny. Does the Bible really provide a simple analysis that indicates individuals’ acceptance or rejection by God? 

            Even though most of the Bible passages are capable of enlightening mankind concerning  spiritual destination, for the sake of beginning with one, reading 1 John 3:19-24 and thinking thoroughly to see if it addresses heart burning question, is highly recommended.

            John wrote 1John 3:19-24 with juxtaposing purpose of, primarily, providing an assurance of salvation to the true believers, and secondly, implying that un- believers might be cautioned against the danger of fooling themselves as believers of Christ.

            1John 3:19-20, “We will know by this (which is love, 1John 3:18) that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things,”

            The sound approach of the above text maintains that 1John 3:19-20, does not speak about the conscious’ verdict against all sins, but  focuses on conscious’ criticism of specific sin which represents the disbelief of its practitioner.

            “This,” the determiner in 1John 3: 19, and the overarching context (Verse 18 and 23) that embraces the passage we are dealing with, warns against any other kind of meaning except the meaning that conveys the love experienced within Christ’s believers. Thus the testimony of the believers heart (I.e. possibly, Christians’ conscious) should be specifically interpreted in relation to “not exercising Christian love.”

            1John 3: 19 states that Christians understand that they are of the truth (that is, an indication that Christians experience an exact origin similar to that of Jesus Christ by virtue of adherence to God and his demands (1John 4: 4, 6,  7) if they act in love toward other Christians. In other words, loving Christ’s followers is one clear sign of belonging to God (1John 5:1). Here, it is essential to note two things. First, the kind of love prescribed for whoever claims to be a Christian is not a love that should be extended to any human kind rather it is a love limited only to the fellow Christians. Second, the love that John talks about is not a mere love that express itself in nice comments concerning fellow believers; instead it is a love that requires an absolute commitment to the family of faith and their vivid needs.   

            Verse 19b- 20 expounds that God judges the nations on the basis of whether they loved Christians or not. The statement, “… We will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemn us for God is greater than our hearts ” communicates that Christian hearts’ condemnation is governed by Christians’ exercise of love which is in a perfect harmony with the All-knowing  knowledge of God. Another way of looking at the above concept is that Christians, who genuinely acted in love towards their needy fellow believers, have no need of fearing condemnation because they meet the standards of God.

            Jesus’ solid instruction concerning his second coming (Mt. 25: 31-46)would put more light to this absurd concept of looking at God’s Judgment on the basis of the love shown to his followers. Mathew 25 clearly displays that, in the judgment day Jesus separates between His followers and the “accursed ones” on the basis of their treatment of the “little ones” meaning Christ believers, and not every poor person as the popular opinion would have you belive.

            The message of this article demands nominal Christians and churches to examine themselves  if they are genuine followers of Christ. Church leaders and members, when was the last time you have shown compassion and generosity to other needy Christians so that you may show the spiritual unity between yourselves and them? Are you engaged in a big building project while you are neglecting the significance of Christian love which should be demonstrated not only with words but also with action? Or are you fighting to show your greatness while you are unsettling the souls of new believers? Then take caution and check if you are in the true faith.

            Some of you may think that you are a great moral life practitioners, and on top of that you claim well that you give to the poor, but you never talk to true Biblical Christians or exposed yourselves that their Lord would be your Lord. Instead you treated Christ’s followers worse, thinking  that they are insane. Do you think God would accept you into his kingdom just because you gave to the poor, perhaps for the sake of your own pride, which is greater sin? Refer back to Mathew 25: 31-48, because the attachment of Jesus and His believers are so strong, you cannot make it to heaven unless you have shown an absolute loyalty and a self giving love to true Christians. In fact John in his 1^st letter 1: 3 said that Christians announced God’s massage so that non-believers may have fellowship with them. In other words John ment that the means by which one can have fellowship with God is  having spiritual fellowship with true Christians.

         Let me ask you, Are you saved? If you do not know the answer, you may find some clues about your eternal state by answering thefollowing questions. Do you agree with every teachings that Bibile Believing Christians teach? Are you ready yet to declare to yourself and others that Bible grounded Christians are Christ’s representatives on earth? Do you want to defend their case and love them to death?

Lessons from the giant’s fate

                A few minutes ago, I read two shocking news about two of America’s well known Artists, Farrah Fawcett, famous Hollywood actress who starred in Charlie’s Angel and Michael Jackson, ” King of pop music.” The demise of these stars shock  most of us not because death is a new unpleasant incident for them, but, because we think such prominent figures would somehow overcome what seemed challenging to others, namely death.

                Let me re-direct the concern from why Fawcett and Jackson died to what do we learn from their death? I believe, it is worth spending good amount of time regarding the topic I proposed than simply wondering about the reason of their fate, because unlike being disappointed about  Fawcett’s and Jackson’s death, reflecting on their irritating incident will enable us to accomplish the most wonderful thing in the world.

                Primarily Fawcett’s and Jackson’s death validates that all mankind at some point will be trapped by death. Whether we like it or not, death will confront us. Death is not afraid of money, power, or fame, nor affirms our wonderful plan for future decades. It simply shows up unexpectedly like a determined police who apprehends the wanted criminals at any place and time for the sake of fulfilling his commander’s order. Death is cruel, it never accepts excuses.

                Death blocks our non- stop self centered plan in order to unveil the passionate anger of its master, namely the LORD GOD. As the owner of every breath GOD gets angry when HIS creatures neglect HIM for the sake of satisfying their unappeasable egocentric covetousness. THE LORD gets annoyed when human beings, who were created to reflect HIS likeness, choose to be more like Satan, who is the most selfish being in the whole universe. So, when mankind gets entangled in self love, rather than loving and worshiping his maker, GOD sends death to interrupt man’s godless endeavor(Luke 12: 15-21.)

                Fawcett’s and Jackson’s death, secondly, unveils that human beings continue to live in a different form. Death is not the cessation of living; instead it is the departure of the immaterial being with conscience apart from the material corpus. However, when the immaterial man travels out of his body ,he will encounter the inescapable judgment from the judge for the Bible reads, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” (Heb.9:27.)

                People will be judged not based on what they have contributed to the society; instead they will be judged on the basis of the kind of response they gave to GOD’s only route of salvation. God does not care how compassionate you are unless you first appreciate His Saving Plan. If you don’t value God’s way of saving, that is, Denial of human way of salvation, and perfect reliance on CHRIST’s death on the cross and His resurrection for your sake, you side with GOD’s enemies and surely will go to Hell.

                GOD will accept you into His kingdom if you only believe in JESUS CHRIST because, its only through HIM that GOD is most pleased (Luke 3:22,) JESUS is the means through whom GOD makes peace with men (2Corinthians 5:19,) God’s anger against people’s sin is satisfied only when CHRIST’s blood was shed on the cross (Romans 5:9,) and GOD holds accountable those who devalue Jesus’ sacrificial death on their behalf (Hebrews 10: 29.)

                Do you know where you will spend eternity if you die tonight? If you do not know, are you willing to believe in JESUS and follow HIM until the end?

አቅራቢ(Author)

ስሜ ሰላምአብ አሰፋ ይባላል። በአሁኑ ወቅት  Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary(www.MBTS.edu)ውስጥ የMasters of Divinity ትምህርት በመከታተል ላይ እገኛለሁ። ዝንባሌዬ እንደመሆኑ መጠን መጽሐፍ ቅዱስንና መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ጠቀስ ርእሰ ጉዳዮች ላይ ችሎታዬ የፈቀደልኝን ያህል መወያየት የዘወትር ደስታዬ ነው። አላማዬ ሰዎች ስለ እግዚአብሔር ማንኛውንም አስተያየት ከመስጠታቸው በፊት መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን ከፍተው እንዲያነብቡት ማበረታታት ነው። My Name is Selamab Assefa, Currently, I attend Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am very much interested in doing a dialogue concerning Blble Oriented topics. My aim in this blog is to mainly encourage people to read the Bible before arguing for or against God.

መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ

በጨዋታ መካከል በሚነሱ አንዳንድ ሃይማኖታዊ ርእሰ ጉዳዮች ዙሪያ ሰዎች የመሰላቸውን አስትያየት ይለግሳሉ፣ ይሁን እንጂ ንግግራቸው አንድን የሃይማኖት መሪ ወይም ምእመን ያማከለ ከመሆን ያለፈ ካለመሆኑም በላይ መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን ያገናዘበ አይደለም፡፡ ነገር ግን እንዲያው በዘፈቀደ የመጽሓፍ ቅዱስ እውቀት አለን በሚል ግምት የያዙትን አመለካከት በግትርነት ያንጸባርቃሉ:: ሆኖም ግን መጽሓፍ ቅዱስን አንብበውት እንደሆነ ሲጠየቁ ይደናገጣሉ:: ለመሆኑ መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን ማንበብ ለምን የግድ ሆነ? ይህን በተመለከተ፤ ምንም እንኳን በርካታ መልሶችን መስጠት ቢቻልም፤ ይህ ጽሑፍ በሁለቱ ላይ ብቻ ያተኩራል።
መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል እንደመሆኑ መጠን እግዚአብሔርን ያለ አንዳች ተፎካካሪ ለመተረክ ብቃት ያለዉ ጽሑፍ እሱ ብቻ ነው። እግዚአብሔር ማንነቱን በፍጥረታቱ፤ በታሪክ፤ እንዲሁም በሰጠን ሕሊና አማካይነት የገለጠ መሆኑ የማይካድ ሀቅ ቢሆንም ስለ እርሱ እቅጭ የሆነና የማያሻማ ዘገባ የሚገኘው ከስህተት የጠራ በሆነው ቅዱስ መጽሐፍ ውስጥ ነው።
በአካባቢያችን የምንከታተላቸው የድምጽም ሆነ የቅኝት መገናኛ አውታሮች ስለ እግዚአብሔር የሚሰነዝሯቸው ብዙ አስተያየቶች አሉ፤ ይሁን እንጂ የሚሰጡን አስተያየት ሁሉ ትክክል ነው ብሎ መደምደም እራስን ማሞኘት ነው፤ ሆኖም ቅዱስ ቃሉ “ሁሉን ነገር ፈትኑ መልካም የሆነውን ያዙ፤” ብሎ እንደሚናገረው የሰማነውን ሁሉ ሚዛን ላይ ማስቀመጥ አግባብ ነው። ምክንያቱም እግዚአብሔር በመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ አማካይነት እራሱን ይፋ ካደረገበት መንገድ ውጭ የሆነ ግብር የለውም። ለተጨማሪ ማብራሪያ( ዘዳ. 13:1-11)ይመልከቱ።መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን የማናነብብ ከሆነ ግን፤ ወይ የስህተትን እምነት እንቀበላለን ፤አልያም ክህደትን እናምናን ማለት ነው(ማቴዎስ 22፡ 29።)
መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ለምን ይታመናል?
ምክንያቱም፤ የመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ጠንሳሽ የሆነው እግዚአብሔር፤ በመጽሐፉ ውስጥ ያሉት ቃላት በአጠቃላይ ከእርሱ አፍ እንደወጡ ይፋ አድርጓል። በሌላ አነጋገር ሰዎች የራሳቸውን አሳብ ጨምረው እንዳይጽፉ ወይም በመሰላቸው መንገድ መጽሐፉን እንዳይተረጉሙት እርሱ እራሱ በአፋቸው ላይ ቃሉን እንዳኖረ ገልጧል፤ “ከሁሉ አስቀድሞ ይህን ልታውቁ ይገባችኋል፤ በመጽሐፍ ያለው የትንቢት ቃል ሁሉ ማንም ሰው በገዛ ራሱ መንገድ የሚተረጉመው አይደለም፤ ምክንያቱም ትንቢት ከእግዚአብሔር የተላኩ ሰዎች በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ተመርተው ተናገሩት እንጂ ከቶ በሰው ፈቃድ የመጣ አይደለም (2ኛጴጥ. 2፤20-21።) እዚህ ላይ ልብ ማለት ያለብን ነገር የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ተቀብለው ሰው ሊያነብብ በሚችልበት ብራና ላይ ያሰፈሩልን ሰዎች የባሕልም ሆነ የስነ ጽሑፍ ቅርጽ ተጽእኖ ያልተደረገባቸው ቢሆንም በተቀበሉት መገለጥ ላይ ግን አንዳችም የመጨመር መብት አልነበራቸውም። ስለሆነም መቶ በመቶ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ጽፈውልናል ብንል ከእውነት የራቅን አንሆንም።
መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ መታመን የሚገባው ሁለተኛው ምክንያት ከስሕተት የጸዳ ሰነድ በመሆኑ ነው።መዝሙረ ዳዊት 119:140 “ቃልህ እጅግ የነጠረ ነው፤” ይላል። የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ስህተት አልባ ነው ስንል እግዚአብሔር በቃሉ ውስጥ እንዲካተቱ የፈቀዳቸው የተስፋ ቃላት ሁሉ ተፈጻሚነታቸው ከጥያቄ ውስጥ አይገባም ማለታችን ነው። ከዚያ ባሻገር መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ስለ እግዚአብሔር የሰጠው ምስክርነት በአጠቃላይ እውነተኛ መሆኑን ያሳያል።ከዚህም የተነሳ ዘማሪው ”ባሪያህም ወደደው”ብሎ በዘዳግም 6:4 ላይ ጌታ አምላክህን ያለ አንዳች ተአቅቦ ውደደው ተብሎ በተጻፈው ጥቅስ ላይ ያለውን ግስ ይጠቀማል።በሌላ አገላለጽ፤ዘማሪው የእግዚአብሔር ቃል እውነተኛ መሆኑን ሲያውቅ መላ ማንንቱን ሁሉ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ላዘለው እውነት ሰጠ፣ቃሉን በፍጹም ሐሴት ተቀብሎ አስተናገደው፣እንዲሁም ከቃሉ አሳብ ጋር ሙሉለሙሉ ተስማማ ማለት ነው።
መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ሊታመን የሚገባው ሶስተኛው ምክንያት በቀደሙት ሰዎች የህይወት ተሞክሮ ውስጥ ተፈጻሚነት ማግኘቱ ነው። ሁለት ምሳሌዎችን ብንቃኝ፤ እግዚአብሔር ለአብርሃም የዘር በረከትን በተመለከተ የገባውን የተስፋ ቃል(ዘፍ.15: 5)እንደፈጸመ እብራውያን 11:11-12 ያረጋግጥልናል። በተቃራኒው ደግሞ፤የሚረግሙህን እረግማልሁ(ዘፍ. 12፡3)ብሎ እግዚአብሔር ለአብርሃም የሰጠውን ተስፋ በለአም ተንኮለኛ ምክሩን በመለገስ እስራኤልን ለማጥፋት ባደረገው ሙክራ ላይ አንደኛ፣ በለአምን በማስጠንቀቅ ሁለተኛ ደግሞ፣ በለአምን በሞት በመቅጣት ተፈጻሚ ሲያደርገው በዘሁልቁ 22:12 እና በኢያሱ 13:22 ላይ እናነብባለን። በተጨማሪም፤ አማኞች የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል እንደተራ ነገር እንዳያዩት በማስጠንቀቂያ መልክ የቀረቡትን ሁለት ጥቅሶች(1ኛ ቆሮ. 10፤እብ.4) ማንበቡ ይህን አሳብ በይበልጥ ያጠናክርልናል።
ጥያቄ
መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን አንብበህ(ሽ) ታውቃለህ(ታውቂአለሽ)?
ካነበብክስ(ሽስ) ንባብህ(ሽ) ምን ያህል ፐርሰንት ይሆናል?
ይህ የንባብህ(ሽ) ልክ እግዚአብሔርን በትክክል እንድታውቀው(ቂው) የረዳህ(ሽ) ይመስልሃል(ሻል)?
ይህ ጽሑፍ በአእምሮህ(ሽ )ውስጥ ምን ጫረብህ(ሽ)?

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