Bible League: Living His Word By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.— Hebrews 11:3 NIV In the history of philosophy there have been many attempts to prove the existence of God by means of rational arguments. Here is a very brief summary of some that have been made by philosophers: Some philosophers try to prove the existence of God on the basis of “causality.” Since nothing in the universe exists without a cause, there must have been an “uncaused, first cause” to get the universe going in the first place. This first cause is assumed to be God. Some philosophers have tried to prove the existence of God on the basis of design. If there is design in the universe (which there is), then there must have been a designer. The designer, then, is said to be God. Other philosophers have tried to prove the existence of God on the basis of “moral law.” If there are moral laws, like the Golden Rule, then there must have been a law-giver. The law-giver is then identified as God. There have been many other arguments for the existence of God in the history of philosophy. Many of them have weight, but none of them has escaped critical review and none of them has been shown to be perfect. At best, arguments like these support the existence of God, rather than prove His existence. Since no argument is perfect or without controversy, belief in God must come from a source other than arguments. Our verse for today identifies the source. Christians believe in God by faith. By faith we believe that all things were made by God, by the very word of God. The Bible says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” (Romans 10:17). We hear the word of God proclaimed, we hear what it has to say about God, and we believe it. Argumentation is useful. It can give rational support to our faith, and it can defend it against attacks. However, it is not a substitute for faith. Indeed, the only people that make serious arguments for the existence of God are people that already believe in Him—by faith. We understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, then, because God has graciously given us the faith to believe that it was. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNumbers 11, 12, 13 Numbers 11 -- Complaints of the People and Moses; Quail from the Lord; Plague NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 12 -- Miriam and Aaron Complain against Moses NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 13 -- The Twelve Spies Explore and Report on Canaan NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 5:21-43 Mark 5 -- Jesus Sends the Demons into the Pigs, Heals the Woman with Bleeding, Raises Jairus' Daughter NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Why am I discouraged?Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. Insight Depression is one of the most common emotional ailments. One antidote for depression is to meditate on the record of God's goodness to his people. This will take your mind off the present situation and give hope that it will improve. It will focus your thoughts on God's ability to help you rather than on your inability to help yourself. Challenge When you feel depressed, take advantage of this psalm's antidepressant. Read the Bible's accounts of God's goodness, and meditate on them. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Zechariah 1:12,13 O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem? ... And the Lord answered the angel ... with good words and comfortable words.What a sweet answer to an anxious enquiry! This night let us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for thee; thy time of travail shall soon be over; thy children shall be brought forth; thy captivity shall end. Bear patiently the rod for a season, and under the darkness still trust in God, for his love burneth towards thee. God loves the church with a love too deep for human imagination: he loves her with all his infinite heart. Therefore let her sons be of good courage; she cannot be far from prosperity to whom God speaketh "good words and comfortable words." What these comfortable words are the prophet goes on to tell us: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy." The Lord loves his church so much that he cannot bear that she should go astray to others; and when she has done so, he cannot endure that she should suffer too much or too heavily. He will not have his enemies afflict her: he is displeased with them because they increase her misery. When God seems most to leave his church, his heart is warm towards her. History shows that whenever God uses a rod to chasten his servants, he always breaks it afterwards, as if he loathed the rod which gave his children pain. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." God hath not forgotten us because he smites--his blows are no evidences of want of love. If this is true of his church collectively, it is of necessity true also of each individual member. You may fear that the Lord has passed you by, but it is not so: he who counts the stars, and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting his own children. He knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature he ever made, or the only saint he ever loved. Approach him and be at peace. Daily Light on the Daily Path Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.Psalm 119:75 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. 1 Samuel 3:18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him." Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease? Malachi 3:3 "He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. Hebrews 12:6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." Matthew 10:25 "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! Hebrews 5:8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. Revelation 7:14 I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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