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Can We Believe God’s Promises?
“God does keep His promises, but in ways and over time frames that our finite minds have difficulty comprehending.
Robson Hatsukami Morgan/Unsplash
God promised Abraham, “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven.”
Abraham is one of the most fascinating figures in the Bible. He’s called “the father of the faithful” (see Romans 4:11) because he left his comfortable city life to travel the wilderness with his flocks and herds without a permanent home.
Probably the most remarkable part of Abraham’s story is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3, where God gives him a series of astounding promises: “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’” (emphasis added throughout).
As Abraham proved his faithful obedience, God expanded those promises. In Genesis 17:16, God assured him regarding his then-childless 90-year-old wife Sarah, “She shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”
In Genesis 22:17-18 God further promised Abraham: “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
So we see that God’s promises to Abraham included, among other things:
• “All the nations of the earth” would be blessed through him.
• God would make a great nation of his descendants.
• “Nations” and “kings of peoples” would come from him through his wife Sarah.
• His descendants would number “as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore.”
What staggering promises! And more specific promises and prophecies were given to Abraham’s son Isaac, his grandson Jacob (renamed Israel) and his great-grandson Joseph.
But, as Hebrews 11:13 tells us of Abraham and other faithful men and women of God, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises . . .” Which brings us to the title above: “Can We Believe God’s Promises?”
The short answer is absolutely yes! But we need to understand that God operates on a completely different plane from ours as human beings (Isaiah 55:8-9). For Him, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). This “High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity” is not bound by time as we are (Isaiah 57:15). Human possessions and territorial claims are infinitesimal next to a God who says, “All the earth is Mine” (Exodus 19:5) and “Everything under heaven is Mine” (Job 41:11).
God does keep His promises, but in ways and over time frames that our finite minds have difficulty comprehending. This brings us to the theme of this issue, which is the history and biblical importance of the British royal throne and empire—and the major English-speaking nations that emerged from that empire, notably the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Less than a century ago the British Empire was the world’s preeminent power. It was truthfully said that it was the empire on which the sun never set—meaning the empire spanned the globe from Europe to Africa to North and South America to Asia to Australia and to many islands in between. For two centuries it was the dominant global power, with a navy that ruled the seas.
But how did a small island nation roughly the size of the U.S. state of Michigan (or Wyoming or Oregon) grow into a world superpower? It seems impossible, but Britain and its colonies dominated the globe for two centuries and ushered in the modern world!
With Britain’s slide from preeminence in the aftermath of World War II, one of its former colonies—the United States—became the new world superpower, a position it has now held for three quarters of a century.
Is there any link between the rise and world dominance of these two powers with the astounding promises made to Abraham almost 4,000 years ago? Those promises were not fulfilled in Abraham’s time, or in the time of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah that were descended from him. But they have been fulfilled—and in ways that are truly amazing and bear testimony to God’s faithfulness and the amazing accuracy of Bible prophecy.
We hope you’ll carefully read this issue—and that you’ll be astounded at how we can indeed believe all of God’s promises!” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/can-we-believe-gods-promises
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A Life No Longer Fragile
“From time to time something happens to remind me how fragile life is. We like to see ourselves as strong, always charging on into the future. During much of our lives, it is almost beyond our comprehension to consider the day when we won’t be here any longer.
But life is fragile, and none of us is too young to carefully consider it. An accident, a sickness, some genetic predisposition or the body simply wearing out, and life comes to an end. God never intended life to go on forever in this body.
He does want us to have life forever, but it will be in a different body! A section of scripture that jumps to mind when I consider the fleeting nature of life is found at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon is directing many of his thoughts to the young—and appropriately so. When we are young there is so much we haven’t experienced, so much we don’t know and so many ways we can get ourselves into a pickle if we don’t have wise counsel from someone older and more experienced. However, nearly everything Solomon writes applies to all of us, no matter our age, including the first 8 verses of Ecclesiastes 12.
He starts by reminding us to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. And there is a tremendous advantage to focusing on a strong and close relationship with God at the beginning of our lives, because it sets a pattern we can continue to follow. And doing so will allow us to avoid so many of the problems we might otherwise stumble right into.
For many of us, we’d be hard pressed to conclude we are any longer in our youth! I don’t think I could qualify any more—but I am as young right now as I’m ever going to be again! So, with that thought in mind, Solomon’s advice is something I should take to heart right now. I need to be sure I have a strong, clear and constant awareness of my Creator, His plan and His direct interaction with me. Over the next few verses Solomon describes very poetically what happens with our bodies.
Eyesight fails (we need glasses, then bifocals, then trifocals, then—I don’t know what comes after that). Hearing fails (we need hearing aids, but we put them off for as long as possible). Strength begins to fail (I know I used to just grab the end of that and pick it up and move it where I wanted. Who added a whole bunch of weight to it now?)
The silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher at the fountain are all poetically symbolic of the precious elements God so carefully designed into the human body. We need them all to function so we can live, but at some point these essential parts of us will get sick, get injured or grow old and cease to work.
And we see once again that life is fragile. But even with all his God-given wisdom, Solomon didn’t use that wisdom to stay on the right path of life. He went after everything he could imagine in great excess: entertainment, alcohol and perhaps whatever drugs might have existed then, women, and more women and even more women. And then paganism, as his wives convinced him to try worshipping other gods, and following other practices and leading a life that was contrary to the one set out by his Creator.
Toward the end of his life Solomon had a very bleak and dismal view of life, which he described at the beginning of this book. “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher; ‘vanity of vanities, all is vanity’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). He felt there was not much point in his life.
The world goes round, people come and people go, but nothing amounts to much. What a sad perspective. Yet at the end of this book, he does use his wisdom to give the most important advice in chapter 12 verse 13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all [the King James Version says, ‘this is the whole duty of man’].”
Human life is so fragile, and we never know when, why, where or how ours will come to an end. But our loving and almighty Father in heaven has promised that there is and will be so much more than just this fragile human life. He wants to give us life forever, in a perfect and strong spirit body that will allow us to work with and under Him in His family for eternity!
The knowledge of both those things—the fragility of life and the hope of a wonderful future—should be constant reminders that we must always remember our Creator in whatever stage of life we may be in. Do it now while we can. Don’t let the chance to live uprightly pass us by. Human life is fragile, but life in the Kingdom of God is forever.
Kind regards, and have a great rest of your week, Tom Clark, for Life, Hope and Truth.”
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Avoid Sardines With Soybean Oil
“Avoid Sardines With Soybean Oil…This toxic oil could be hiding in your sardines!
When you do a search on soy, you’re going to find a lot of positive things about it. But, in reality, there are a lot of negative things about soy products.
Soy is GMO, and most of it has been processed using hexane, which is toxic. Soy is also very inflammatory because it’s high in omega-6. Soy has been promoted to menopausal women but, in 25 trials, it was demonstrated that soy didn’t improve hot flashes.
Soy is given to many animals that we then eat. It’s also in oils, salad dressings, processed foods, and more. There is a lot of conflicting information on soy, but many people believe it can lead to a range of serious health problems.
Soy is subsidized, meaning the government will pay farmers to grow soy. 85% of subsidized products go to just 50 multibillionaire CEOs. Overall, it seems like there is a huge push to get people to consume soy because it’s profitable.
But, as a consumer, there are a few things you can do about this problem. If people buy fewer soy products, the market will shift to other products.
What you can do:
1. Be highly selective of what you order at restaurants
2. Read labels and don’t buy products that contain soy
3. Eat at home
4. Consume more omega-3 fats”
More info in video: https://fb.watch/imAyzFkQOL/
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