I Travel In Time…And I Can Prove It

I Travel In Time… And I Can Prove It!

This might require some deep thinking, but the truth is, we all travel in time… We all travel forward in time one second every second.  Scientifically it is more complicated than this, but I’m not trying to compete with Einstein here. Think of it as if we are all on a train moving forward on a track all moving at the same speed and in the same direction; the train is moving forward at a rate of one second every second.  We are confined by this fact.  It is so much a part of our existence we are hardly aware of it and can hardly imagine anything not existing with these same confines, but God is not confined by this train or this track.  I think of it as if we are in that train on that track and God is in an airplane and can see the beginning and the end of our track and go wherever and whenever He wants to… Again I know this is over simplification, but you start to get the idea (actually He is is ALL places at the same time).  Later I may talk about God in the analogy, but today I want to talk about us riding on this ‘time train’.  I usually prefer reading the NIV Bible, but there are some verses and passages that quite frankly just sound better in the King James Version.  One of those is Hebrews 9:27 ^“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”   We only get one ride on this roller coaster of life.  We can’t go backwards, we can’t go sideways (though I’m not sure what that would accomplish).  We can’t go slower and we can’t go faster.  Therefore it is vital that we make the most of the time we have here on Earth.  So what does that mean????

For me there are a few verses that I look to in order to answer this question.  Micah 6:8 gives us the very basics, the bare minimum when he writes that The Lord requires us to 1.) Do justly  2.) Love mercy and 3.) Walk humbly with God.  If you want to do the very least that you can do, there you have it…but your return on investment will likely be the bare minimum as well.  While I usually prefer larger chunks of scripture, I’m gonna get a little bit choppy here.  In Romans 12: 1 Paul urges us to offer up ourselves as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God.  Then in Ephesians 2:10 Paul says ^“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

So as I read it, if we want to get the most out of this short life in living for Christ, we need to remember that God has good works planned for each of us that He has created us for and that if we are faithful enough to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to Christ that He will use us and fulfill our purpose for our time here in this life.  I don’t know about you, but if I’ve only got one ride on this train of life I want to get the most out of it that I can.

I hope you have found this helpful.  I’ll be honest, I need your feedback to keep motivated, so if you have any questions, or comments or you just found this helpful, please leave a little comment. 

Today’s Minute Bible upload will be The book of Hebrews.

Thanks

The Minute Bible Guy

http://theminutebible.com/

The Love Chapter, A New Perspective...

The Love Chapter, a new perspective…

Spoiler alert, you may never look at First Corinthians 13 the same again; you have been warned.  Chapter 13 of First Corinthians is most often called The Love Chapter, and for good reason, love is patient, love is kind etc. etc.  This chapter is often used in wedding ceremonies among other things.  Most of the chapter is pretty self-explanatory, but when you get to the end and it starts talking about prophesying in part and thinking like a child, I always got a little confused; what does this have to do with love?… until I stepped back and looked at it in CONTEXT. 

Love is NOT the point Paul is trying to make here; most of this chapter is just a parenthetical statement (According to compopedia.com, Parenthetical statements are clauses or phrases used in sentences that contain secondary information unnecessary for the completion of the independent clause).  The beginning section about the resounding gong and the clanging cymbal, and the end part about prophesying and looking in a mirror are transition into and out of this parenthetical statement. 

Paul is instructing the folks of Corinth that they need to work together.  In chapter 12, Paul is talking about using their Spiritual gifts for the glory of God, and that they need to use these gifts by working together in love as if they were one body...  Then he ‘stops’ and says ‘but wait, I should probably tell you what love is’…If you have all these gifts, but don’t use them in love you’re just a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  In other words, if you can speak like an angel, prophesy, and fathom all mysteries but don’t do it in love, you’re BUGGING God.  I always picture that little monkey that just sits there and claps his cymbals together endlessly.  Then, at the end of the chapter he transitions back to talking about spiritual gifts.  When we get saved, we all receive spiritual gifts; and everything changes.  Turning to  the beginning of chapter 14 Paul goes back to speaking about the gifts of The Spirit again.

So there you have it; one of the most famous and beloved verses in The Bible is really just an aside, an ‘oh, by the way’ (it does make more sense when you realize that).  Don’t worry, it’s still a great chapter.  That doesn’t make it any less important, or for that matter any less beautiful.  It is, and it will always be The Love Chapter, and with good reason.

I hope you have found this helpful.  I’ll be honest, I need your feedback to keep motivated, so if you have any questions, or comments or you just found this helpful, please leave a little comment.  

Thanks

The Minute Bible Guy

http://theminutebible.com

For a quick overview of First and Second Corinthians, check out these Minute Bible videos

First Corinthians in one minute

Second Corinthians in one minute