Today a friend asked me a good question. “Gene, do you believe that humans that do not have Jesus as Lord will suffer eternally in flames?” That is a common belief among some Christians.
God loves to make us whole. He wants our bodies healthy, our minds clear and alert, our spiritual understanding enlightened. He is our Savior and sent His Son to be our savior. That is what “Jesus” means in Hebrew: Jehovah saves. The title Jehovah is used many times in the Bible and shows God’s willingness to help us. In the Bible, God also uses the title Elohim to show that He is able (as Creator) to meet our every need. He is both willing and able to care for us.
One reason there is division and misunderstanding in the church is that some Bible readers do not understand scope. God calls Himself the Holy Spirit, and He spoke by His spirit that He gave to the prophets so they could write the scriptures (II Peter 1:20,21). This included the Apostle Paul (II Peter 3:15,16). If, over thousands of years, our Father gave His Word to people to make up the Bible, then it all must agree within itself. And it does.
Background
Psalm 108 is in the Deuteronomy Book of the Psalms (Psalms 107-150). These 44 Psalms, like the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, show God’s Word as the source of salvation, deliverance, and healing. This would be fully carried out in the life of the coming Messiah, the living Word, Jesus Christ. Psalm 108 declares the Messiah as God’s promised lawgiver from David’s line in Judah.
There once was a cowgirl, who lived life by this world,
Background
This Psalm has the title “Maschil,” which means instruction. It was used for public teaching and shows the victory God gives through His Messiah.
As an infant, I was baptized with water at the baptismal font in our church. I remember nothing of this, but my parents did it in hopes of bringing some spiritual cleansing to me. Yet, in reality, I never received God’s gift of holy spirit until years later, when I carried out the Father’s simple instructions in the Book of Romans.
Background
Just as Psalm 23 showed that we can trust in the Lord as our shepherd, this Psalm shows that we can trust in, delight in, commit to, and rest in the Lord despite the evil of those around us (verses 3-7).
Background
This is another Psalm that has an acrostic, where a Hebrew letter is used to begin a verse. It is a regular acrostic, so that each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet is set in order and begins one or more verses.
Background
As a larger group, Psalms 25—41 are in many ways responses to the previous Psalms 16—24. And Psalms 25—28 contain prayers about the Messiah and what he would suffer and accomplish.