You may have noticed I changed the title of my blog to| Let's Be Reasonable. I changed it because I
've spent a great deal of my life trying to find the reasons things are the way they are. I want answers, I want truth. As a child I remember asking adults the "why" questions and "how come" questions. I wanted to know how God could be without having a mom and dad. I wanted to know why there were so many denominations, when Christianity was about following Christ - our one Savior.
In a way I am still that child with the questions and need for answers.....answers based on reasonable facts. To me it is important to learn how very reasonable God is and share that knowledge with others. So today I want to share something a great many of us have thought about but maybe not considered why it is true. The following excerpt is from the book Cries of The Heart by Ravi Zacharias.
"While speaking at the University of Nottingham, England, a young man posed a question to me. " There can not be a God , " he said, " with all the evil and suffering that exists in the world! How can you say there is a God?"
My response to him : " when you say there is such a thing as evil, are you not assuming that there is such a thing as good?
"Of course, " he retorted.
"But when you assume there is such a thing as good, are you not also assuming that there is such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to distinguish between good and evil?"
"I suppose so," came the hesitant and much softer reply.
"If , then, there is a moral law, you must posit a moral lawgiver. If there is no moral lawgiver, there is no moral law. If there is no moral law, there is no good. If there is no good, there is no evil. I am not sure what your question is!"
For if God is not the author of life ' neither good or bad is a meaningful term."
So I pose a question to my reader, " what would you say to a skeptic or atheist about the existence of God?" I shared this with you today because it just makes sense; it is reasonable. And there may be opportunity in your future to share these thoughts with others and have them begin to search for the truth themselves.
Hang in here with me. I plan to expand on this subject another day and also discuss the reason in suffering.
"Come let us reason together, "says the Lord in Isaiah 1:18. I love that! He wants us to know the truth , He wants us to ask questions, He wants us to find the reasons, He wants us to know Him. That I can know Him and know He is who He says He is and have my faith built up by sound reasoning - well, it makes me happy, happy, happy!
In the mean time, my hope is that you will go outside today and look up and take note of the enormity of the heavens and know that God is mighty, He our magnificent Creator and He has purpose in all
things.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Strengthen Your Faith?
Ever wanted to strengthen your faith? There is a key to it. Obedience. Yep, obedience.
Think of all the people recorded in the Bible that did NOT want to do what God told them to do.
Moses, Jonah, Ezekiel, Hosea, did NOT WANT to obey God. When they did obey God - they saw the hand of God in amazing ways.
Consider Moses:
Moses wanted proof that God had called him to really go forward and take His people out of Egypt. What did God say to that?
Think of all the people recorded in the Bible that did NOT want to do what God told them to do.
Moses, Jonah, Ezekiel, Hosea, did NOT WANT to obey God. When they did obey God - they saw the hand of God in amazing ways.
Consider Moses:
Moses wanted proof that God had called him to really go forward and take His people out of Egypt. What did God say to that?
Exodus 3" 12-13 " But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”
Can you imagine witnessing these things:
Moses saw his walking pole/rod turn into a snake and then back to a walking rod. He witnessed the mighty plagues God sent on Egypt. His skin went from normal to leprous and then back to normal. He was obedient and saw the Red Sea part for His people to cross over safely and escape the Egyptians.
You know what is interesting to me? The more Moses was obedient and saw God working in His life, the more of God He wanted. In Exodus 33:18, after all the miracles Moses witnessed and was a part of, Moses asked God to "show him His glory."
I believe once you really begin to see God for who He truly is, you crave His presence and His truth all the more!
As I sit here and think on these things, I wonder about the times when I did my own thing according to Jessica's will. What did I miss out on by refusing to submit to what I knew God asked me to do thru the teaching of His Word?
Well, I won't dwell on missed opportunities, but I do hope I have learned enough from my wrong turns in life that I seek His wisdom, His truth and follow Him in obedience. I don't want to miss out on His best for me!!!
I'll end with a quote from Elisabeth Elliot:
I'll end with a quote from Elisabeth Elliot:
It is Christ who is to be exalted, not our feelings. We will know Him by obedience, not by emotions. Our love will be shown by obedience, not by how good we feel about God at a given moment. "And love means following the commands of God." "Do you love Me?" Jesus asked Peter. "Feed My lambs." He was not asking, "How do you feel about Me?" for love is not a feeling. He was asking for action.
My prayer is that we will choose obedience, move forward into His will and see Him in is awesomeness!
Blessings,
Jessica
My prayer is that we will choose obedience, move forward into His will and see Him in is awesomeness!
Blessings,
Jessica
Saturday, July 20, 2013
It's Not Over - by Jessica Tate
In the world we live in it's not hard to find evil running rampant on a daily basis. After all, we do live in a fallen world. I witnessed some evil behavior a few months back and I sat down to write what I saw.
Sometimes, it is as if God (via His Holy Spirit) takes my hand and pen and writes; I sit back and read what's written and think "wow, where did that come from?" And like this poem below, when I feel urged to write something like this, it just flows out of my hand at lightening speed (like less than 10 minutes). This was one of those times. I believe the words below are from the Lord. Here is the poem I wrote down after seeing the evil that attempts to grab your heart and discourage you.
I want to say one main thing in this post: IT"S NOT OVER! Satan does not win in the end! No matter what--- if you give all the good, the bad, and the ugly to the Lord, He will be faithful to teach you and you will grow and experience a relationship with God you did not realize possible.
God is the miracle maker. If He can take dirt and form a man and breath life into his nostrils --He can take any dead, decaying matter (like dirt/dust/your decaying/filthy situation) and bring life to it, if He so chooses. Never forget that! (You can read about man being formed from the dust of the ground in Genesis)
Stone Cold Heart What Are You to Me?
Jessica Tate
Today I saw the stone cold place where Satan dwells
in rocks and cracks and no God fare.
The only food fed are cancer spores - self and pride
with head thrown back, he walks the floor.
No touch, no love, no kindness there
just hate and self and gloom's despair.
No, my heart does not understand a stoney
mass – where no tear is shed, no feeling felt.
No, my heart chooses life, chooses love
where THE WORD is Truth and perfect love cast out fear.
Oh, Satan it may appear you have won for now
but My God has taken up His plow. He's planted
His Seed, THE LIVING WORD,
and no eye has seen no ear has heard
– what will comes up at harvest time –
nothing compares to what's Divine.
So take your lies, your stone cold heart and
flee from me you who dwell in dark.
For my Savior reigns in hearts of flesh.
I feel, I breath and I attest...
to love and life and living things
and I will flourish with the King.
Though some may not see the kingdom that I see
His reign is not built with man's hands or golden things
it is built in love, by His hand.
Within my spirit He is remolding me into Christ's image not of religious bling,
the carpenter hewns with tools of love – His highest interest - eternal things.
So stone cold heart what are you to me?............
Nothing but forgotten, for I've seen the King.
Amazing,
Jessica
Friday, July 19, 2013
Wanna be happy in 30 seconds? Quick tip for focusing on the positive!
Wanna know one of my secrets to staying focused on the positive things in life?
It's a site called: www.godvine.com
I am addicted to this site! I especially love the animal videos shared by people all over the world -- because they remind me of the incredible variety of God's creation!
I absolutely cannot keep from smiling while I am watching how many animals respond positively to human interaction. It reminds me of how God placed Adam in the garden and gave him dominion over the animals. It just seems to me that when you take care of God's creation, creation responds in love.
Here are a few of my latest favorites:
Let me know what you think!!! I'd love to hear back from you if you watch these or any other videos on godvine.com.
Tell me your favorites and why!!!
Please post or respond if you have found any other uplifting positive sites that will encourage and lift a person's spirit. : )
I love celebrating the evidence of our amazing Creator! This site constantly reminds me of the many miracles we sometimes forget to notice.
ENJOY GOD TODAY! Check out godvine.com!!!
Yay God - You are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Jessica
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Welcome to my blog - Jessica Tate
One of my favorite things to do is write. I love to share what I've learned, what I've read, and what works and what doesn't. I love to learn more about God and His awesome creation. So I hope, if you, too, love to learn, love to look for the positive and want to challenge your mind - you will join me on my writing journey!
Stop and think:
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG
So what about Genesis? Do you remember what happened? God placed Adam in the beautiful garden and told him to enjoy everything in the garden except one thing. That one exception was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why would He tell them not to eat of this tree?
A few weeks ago while I was reading Ravi Zacharias, I came across an amazing finding. Consider what Ravi shares, " when Adam and Eve violated the restriction and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the second injunction took effect: they were not to eat the fruit from the tree of life. When you look carefully at those two boundaries, one following the other, you understand what is going on. Eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil basically gave humanity the power to REDEFINE everything. God had given language, identification, and reality to humankind. He imparted to humans the power to name the animals. But essential to the created order was a moral framework that the creation was NOT to name or define. This was the prerogative of the Creator, NOT of the creation. Does mankind have a right to define what is good and what is evil?"
This made me really stop and chew on these words. So, mankind chose to eat from this tree, they chose for themselves to eat of this tree thus deciding for themselves what was good and what was evil instead of trusting God to define good and evil. Don't we still do that? Don't we still have our own list of what we think is good and acceptable and what is evil?
Isn't that truly why every people group (country/nation/man/woman/boy/girl) have trouble fully getting along. All of us have our own definitions of what is good and what is evil. I may think being faithful, honest, hard working, being financially responsible is being good. You may think the same thing but you define hard working as working enough hours to get by maybe 30 hours a week and getting to household work is not a priority. I may define hard working as 40+ hours a week and keeping a house spotless. You may think being financially responsible is saving $200 a month for emergencies; I may think being financially responsible is putting $500 a month in a 401K I can't get to until 65. I may think evil includes abortion, you may think it evil to force a raped woman to give birth to a child she did not have a say in. Who's right? I'm not right and you are not right. Who is? God. Only God sees things perfectly. Only God sees from the highest perspective and has complete understanding of all things. That is why He tells us to go to His Word and learn of Him. That is why He tells us that Jesus is THE WAY. Jesus was sent to save us. Save us from what? Our fallen mindset. Jesus taught His Father's mindset, His perspective. Why did people reject Jesus? They did not want to change; they wanted to continue to define good and evil for themselves. They did not want to hear the Truth; they did not want to allow God to define things. They (we) want to define things and be our own god, when we reject the Word of God.
How good is God? Even when mankind refused to allow Jesus to teach us how to define things, rejected Jesus, hung Him on the cross - even in humanity's horrible act of hatred for God's Word (Jesus), God allowed His death to be our very redemption. What does He ask? Genuinely, for us to believe on Jesus as the Word of God. And if we truly do, our hearts/mindsets will be changed and there will be evidence of our changed life.
Truly, if you chose to see it --- you will see that God's Word does not die. It will always define things as they truly are. God's Word (Jesus) may have been placed in a tomb but death did not keep Him in the grave, He rose to life -- God's Word will always be alive - no man can keep His Word in the ground. My prayer is that we wake up from our fallen mindset and see Who He really is and that we never truly see until we let Him define things.
You can't define anything without words. And He is the WORD.
John 1:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it."
Blessing,
Jessica T
Stop and think:
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG
So what about Genesis? Do you remember what happened? God placed Adam in the beautiful garden and told him to enjoy everything in the garden except one thing. That one exception was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why would He tell them not to eat of this tree?
A few weeks ago while I was reading Ravi Zacharias, I came across an amazing finding. Consider what Ravi shares, " when Adam and Eve violated the restriction and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the second injunction took effect: they were not to eat the fruit from the tree of life. When you look carefully at those two boundaries, one following the other, you understand what is going on. Eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil basically gave humanity the power to REDEFINE everything. God had given language, identification, and reality to humankind. He imparted to humans the power to name the animals. But essential to the created order was a moral framework that the creation was NOT to name or define. This was the prerogative of the Creator, NOT of the creation. Does mankind have a right to define what is good and what is evil?"
This made me really stop and chew on these words. So, mankind chose to eat from this tree, they chose for themselves to eat of this tree thus deciding for themselves what was good and what was evil instead of trusting God to define good and evil. Don't we still do that? Don't we still have our own list of what we think is good and acceptable and what is evil?
Isn't that truly why every people group (country/nation/man/woman/boy/girl) have trouble fully getting along. All of us have our own definitions of what is good and what is evil. I may think being faithful, honest, hard working, being financially responsible is being good. You may think the same thing but you define hard working as working enough hours to get by maybe 30 hours a week and getting to household work is not a priority. I may define hard working as 40+ hours a week and keeping a house spotless. You may think being financially responsible is saving $200 a month for emergencies; I may think being financially responsible is putting $500 a month in a 401K I can't get to until 65. I may think evil includes abortion, you may think it evil to force a raped woman to give birth to a child she did not have a say in. Who's right? I'm not right and you are not right. Who is? God. Only God sees things perfectly. Only God sees from the highest perspective and has complete understanding of all things. That is why He tells us to go to His Word and learn of Him. That is why He tells us that Jesus is THE WAY. Jesus was sent to save us. Save us from what? Our fallen mindset. Jesus taught His Father's mindset, His perspective. Why did people reject Jesus? They did not want to change; they wanted to continue to define good and evil for themselves. They did not want to hear the Truth; they did not want to allow God to define things. They (we) want to define things and be our own god, when we reject the Word of God.
How good is God? Even when mankind refused to allow Jesus to teach us how to define things, rejected Jesus, hung Him on the cross - even in humanity's horrible act of hatred for God's Word (Jesus), God allowed His death to be our very redemption. What does He ask? Genuinely, for us to believe on Jesus as the Word of God. And if we truly do, our hearts/mindsets will be changed and there will be evidence of our changed life.
Truly, if you chose to see it --- you will see that God's Word does not die. It will always define things as they truly are. God's Word (Jesus) may have been placed in a tomb but death did not keep Him in the grave, He rose to life -- God's Word will always be alive - no man can keep His Word in the ground. My prayer is that we wake up from our fallen mindset and see Who He really is and that we never truly see until we let Him define things.
You can't define anything without words. And He is the WORD.
John 1:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it."
Blessing,
Jessica T
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