AskAnything.sg

In the Old Testament, the prophet Joel writes in Joel 2:28-32 wrote, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes”. Read Full Answer.

Depression is a painful, and difficult condition that many people go through. A short, impersonal response like this would not be the best medium to work through something as personal as this, and hence, we would suggest the person asking the question to approach someone from our church, a homegroup leader, a Deacon or perhaps and Elder to talk through the issues. Read Full Answer.

This question refers to the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. One way to explain why God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s is to note that Abel brought the ‘firstborn of his flock’ (Genesis 4:4), while Cain brought just ‘an offering of the fruit of the ground’ (Genesis 4:3), implying that Abel’s offering was more costly and expressed truer and deeper devotion (Hebrews 11:4). In a sense, it is not the offering per se that is in question. Read Full Answer.

The implication of this question is that someone, or something, appointed God as “the powerful one” and charged Him with the responsibility of dealing with mankind; however, this is not what scripture teachers. Genesis 1:1 states plainly, “In the Beginning God…” Later in Isaiah 45:5 God clarifies this by noting, “I am Jehovah, and their is none else; besides me there is no God.” God has always existed, has always been, and will always be. There are 27 other verses that I located in the Bible that speak of the eternality of God. Check them out for yourself: Read Full Answer.

Please refer to the post “Can I also not have God dwelling with me if I just have church at home, i.e. listening to sermons, praise and worship on DVD without having to go to church or be part of a home group?” for the answer.

This is an important question to ask, as long as we ask it with no assumptions – why did God create a situation where man could disobey Him? Why did He create anything at all?

Everything was created to ultimately serve and please God, and we were created with that purpose as well. He gave us the ability to choose to disobey Him, and this was also given to us to serve God’s purposes. Adam and Eve knew God and walk with Him in the garden where He had placed them. They could eat from any other tree in the garden. They chose in a selfish moment to do the one thing God told them not to do (Gen 2:15-17). Thus, Sin was brought into the world.

Adam and Eve did not trust God, even though He had created them. They did not treasure their relationship with Him. They thought they could do better than He. We are similiar in many ways. Do we see our proper position to God?

In the bible, Job 15:7-16 records God speaking to Job to put him in his proper place: “Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? Do you listen in on God’s council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have? The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father. Are God’s consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you? Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?”

We must see God for who he really is. We must trust God in what he says, in His plans and promises. God is good and is sovereign over all things, thus he has chosen things for his divine purposes and for his own glory(Romans 7:7-12, Romans 8:28-29, Romans 9:21, Romans 16:25-27, 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4, 2 Timothy 2:20). It’s really amazing what God has done to bring us back to Him.

We learn from Scripture that God is holy, just and loving. The characteristic of holiness is hard to condense into a few words but ultimately it means that God is set apart from us, He is pure and perfect; He is the creator and He has set a standard of behavior we call the moral law. To break the moral law is an affront to God and is in effect saying that we know better. Because God is holy and just He will not stand by as his commands are disobeyed, there has to be a response. We are grateful when we think acts such as murder, torture and cruetly will be met with God’s justice but are less excited when we think of acts a little closer to home such as lying, envy and greed. All sin, however, calls for justice. Read Full Answer.

The questions we ask of God come in a myriad of forms. For example, we may question God’s will, wisdom, actions, and outcomes in our own lives and the lives of others. We may question whether we believe in God based on our understanding of science, sociology, psychology, history, etc. In this regard, it’s important for the person attempting to answer such a question to understand the specific nature of the question and the motive(s) of the questioner. Read Full Answer.

These verses speak about God bringing bad things to pass (the King James version from the 17^th century translates some words as “evil” where modern translations use “calamity”, “disaster” or “ill”). They talk of God bringing disaster on people as His righteous judgement for their evil ways, or using a “bad circumstance” from someone’s perspective for ultimate good. It is God’s nature, role and right to punish those who sin. Read Full Answer.

“Hearing God’s voice” does not always mean a booming and audible voice being piped into your ears. This ‘still, small voice’ that many  people claim to have heard is essentially the Holy Spirit reminding us of God’s truth in situations where we are faced with an ethical or moral dilemma or perhaps contemplating a difficult decision (2 Timothy 2:7, John 16:13). Read Full Answer.

Legalism is the term used by Christians to denote a doctrinal system where salvation is earned through good works or through the adherence to precise rules.

This position is often seen as contrary to idea that salvation is by grace alone, and there is nothing we can do in our human capacity to “earn” our salvation. Ephesians 2:8 states “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Read Full Answer.

The revelation that God created all things does not necessarily preclude all forms of evolution, or at least natural selection. There are at least, 6 different views that different Bible believing Christians have with regard to the creation account. All are endeavoring to be faithful to God’s highest authority the Bible, and also be truthful to the evidence of science. The two do not need to conflict. Read Full Answer.

The word translated “Word” in English, from John 1:1 and 1:14 is actually the Greek word Logos. This word was widely used in the first century in different contexts and had a range of meanings.  The Stoics understood it to be the rational principle by which everything exists. Others think that John borrowed from Philo, the first-century Jewish follower of Plato, who saw logos as the real or phenomenal world, or the ideal man, the primal man. More generally, logos can refer to inner thought, reason or science. Some Christian theologians, such as Gordon Clark, advocate translating the word as ‘reason’ or ‘logic’ to emphasize the rational nature of God. Read Full Answer.

Not only has God created the Bible with ‘His words contained inside’, the Christian understanding of the inspiration of the Bible is that the words of the Bible are the very words of God Himself (2 Tim 3:16). These words have come to us via human authors, but Read Full Answer.

The reason for this is because the Bible refers to God as male. The first occurrence is in Genesis 2:2 where God is referred to as “he” in the Hebrew language. In the New Testament, Jesus calls God “Father” (John 5:17-23) and consequently Jesus teaches his disciples to call God “Father” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2). Read Full Answer.

Yes, God knows the future. Take for example Psalm 139. Verse 4 says “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.” Verse 16b then goes to say, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Ephesians 1:11 says “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Read Full Answer.

The fact that you’re asking this question is encouraging—you want to follow Jesus and grow closer to Him, even though that’s tough to do.  Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh” (Luke 6:21, ESV). A hunger to know God more will draw you closer to Him. But we all know our hunger for God comes and goes. So what can you do to stay hungry and draw nearer to Him over time?

The bible tells us that it is the Holy Spirit that guides us to all knowledge of God. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to get closer to God, once we have been made just by faith in Jesus Christ. The most important foundation is to ask God to draw you closer to Him. The power to get closer and closer to God comes from God Himself. From our perspective, there are a number of things you can discipline yourself to do.

First, I’d like to suggest that there are a few basics that you need to persevere no matter how you’re feeling toward God at any given season of life: reading the Bible, praying, worshipping God alone and with others, meeting with other believers for encouragement & accountability, obeying God by his power & grace, and confessing your sins when you don’t obey. The basics involve more than just showing up at the right places & times—a listening ear and open heart toward God and others is needed. Ask God to give you the desire and ability to be consistent in the basics of the faith, along with a listening ear and open heart.

My second suggestion is about perspective and expectations. Do you expect that following Jesus will be easy? Do you expect that you’ll always feel close to God? The Psalms of Ascents (Psalm 120 – 134) are songs of Jewish pilgrims headed up to worship God in Jerusalem—it wasn’t an easy journey, and there were dangers and disappointments along the way. We, too, are walking through life on a difficult, often uphill pilgrimage, and our ultimate destination is Jesus Christ. Ask God to give you strength & wisdom for the journey, realistic expectations about the ups and downs, and help you consistently focus on Jesus along the way. Read Full Answer.

In Psalm 139:7 – 10 the Psalmist states, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”

And in Jeremiah 23:23 – 24 God says, “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD. Read Full Answer.

God is omniscient. That is, God knows everything. He even knows what we need before we even ask Him. (Matt 6:8). Hence, when we say that God does not hear the prayers of non-believers, we are not saying that God does not have the ability to hear, but rather, that He does not entertain prayers that are built on a sinful desire. Ps 66:18 tells us, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Read Full Answer.