Author: Joan C. Thomson

They say, “My ways are not your ways, says the Lord.”

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“My ways are not your ways, says the Lord.” Is it true?

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This is a true Scripture that is generally quoted out of context in order to assure people that there’s no point in asking why someone is sick, or died, or why their prayers weren’t answered.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8.9

This is God’s lament—not his plan.  God lamented that the Israelites didn’t forgive like he does.  Now read it in context:

 ISA 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.

 Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 ISA 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the LORD.

 ISA 55:9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God was addressing evil people, who wouldn’t forgive. This is certainly not his plan or desire for Christians to have evil thoughts, especially since we have been given “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) and we are to walk in all his ways or steps (1 Peter 2:21).

If you’re a follower of Jesus and the Lord’s ways are not your ways, why not?

“Woman is made in the image of man.”

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They say, “Woman is made in the image of man.” Is it true? No!

The Bible says, right from the start,

“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Genesis 1:26,27

Some people cause a lot of harm by confusing 1 Corinthians 11:7, which says that woman is the glory of man-not the image of man.

A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

Glory is a translation of the Greek word “doxa,” which means splendor or praise. It sounds like women make men look good.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3: 18

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

All who follow Jesus are to be transformed and conformed into God’s image. Men and women were made in God’s image, from the Beginning. That never changed.

Read more about it here: https://jesussetswomenfree.com/2018/07/16/in-the-image-of-god/

“To show proper reverence to God, we must be quiet and somber.”

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They say, “To show proper reverence to God, we must be quiet and somber.” Is it true? No.

There will certainly be times to be quiet before God, but the Bible says we are to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 The Greek word translated as “rejoice,” chairó, means to rejoice, be glad, be cheerful.* We are to rejoice “always;” the Greek word, pantote, means, at all times. That would include when we’re in church. And yes, we’re to rejoice even in the face of suffering and persecution.

The Hebrew word translated as praise, from which we get hallelujah, means to shine; hence, to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify:—(make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool(-ish, -ly), glory, give (light).”**–even dance and spin around! No straight faces and sitting still!

*https://biblehub.com/greek/5463.htm

**https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1984/kjv/wlc/0-1/

“Jesus is the Great Physician”

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Is it true? No.

Shocked? But doesn’t the Bible say he is? No, Jesus quoted mockers who had no faith in Capernaum, who would taunt him with a local proverb, “Physician heal thyself.”

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” Luke 4:23.

Jesus didn’t use medicine to heal people—he used supernatural power! Even in the advanced medicine of the twenty-first century, physicians admit, “Medicine isn’t science—it’s an art. We only practice.” They also often say, “I don’t know. We don’t have a treatment for that.”

Jesus always knows what to do; his healing is free and is available to everyone. It does no harm and has no bad side-effects. He and his healing are way above any physician. That is good news!

“I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”

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They say, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”

Is it true? No.

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If you’re a follower of Jesus (see John 8:31,32), you were a sinner but are no longer; sin is not to be a lifestyle for you anymore. Yes, we all sin from time to time and do have God’s forgiveness, but we’re not to keep on sinning as a regular way of life.

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1 John 3:6

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 1:2

“Christians aren’t different from anyone else, we’re just beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.“      

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They say, “Christians aren’t different from anyone else, we’re just beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.“      

 Is it true? No.

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Those who follow Jesus are redeemed and transformed by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God! We are no longer beggars but are daughters and sons of the Most High King. Jesus promised that we could ask anything in his name and he would do it.

Yes, we offer Jesus, the Bread of Life–not as beggars, but as co-heirs with Jesus.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13,14

“Since Jesus was a Nazarite he didn’t drink alcohol.”

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Is it true? No.

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Jesus was a Nazarene—from Nazareth, not a Nazirite (a particular vow of Judaism that did not allow a man to even eat grapes or raisins—so no wine, not even Welch’s grape juice, or cut his hair). Jesus not only drank wine, but he also created a whole lot of wine at the wedding in Cana, after everyone had already had a lot to drink.

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Mark 1:9

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite,they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.” Numbers 6:1-5 and on through verse 21.

The giving of the instructions for those taking a Nazarite vow includes not being near a dead body; Jesus was often near dead people though they didn’t stay that way. If he’d been a Nazarite, he would have had to shave his head every time.

“The church isn’t  a building.” “The church is in the office, the marketplace, the school—wherever the individual is.”

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Is it true? No.

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The word translated as church in the New Testament of the Bible is “ecclesia,” a decision making body. While it’s true that the building isn’t the church, and the church can be any type of building, home, even a tent or a tree to gather under, individuals in the office, marketplace, school, etc. are not, by themselves, the church. The gathering of believers to worship, fellowship and learn together is the church.

“I’m not called to missions.”

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Is it true? No.

Maybe.

Maybe you’re not called to leave your life in your home country behind to live overseas and learn a new language, or even leave your previous life behind and work as a volunteer to support those who do go. It is a hard life though it can be rewarding. But every Christian is called to be part of the spreading of God’s Kingdom, whether through prayer, financial support or moral or logistical support. Jesus addressed his Great Commission to all his followers. However, there are many more who are called to go, who hang back and talk themselves out of it.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

“They say, “The Holy Spirit doesn’t do miracles anymore.”

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 Is it true? No.

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Why wouldn’t he?

Why wouldn’t he? The Bible, which people rightly point to as the final authority, never says that miracles have ceased or would no longer necessary. They can only point to I Corinthians 13:8, which says, “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.For we know in part and we prophesy in part,but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” But they don’t believe that knowledge has passed away. They say that the “completeness” refers to the canon of Scripture, the final agreement of the number of books in the Bible, particularly the New Testament—but what about the Resurrection, the final judgment and New Jerusalem, aren’t those rather the completeness Paul referred to? Yes. And if prophecy disappears when the Bible was “finalized,” then a good part of the Bible would disappear as well, since a lot of it is prophecy.

Paul was speaking, not of the gifts of the Spirit “passing away,” or their being unimportant, but of the ongoing need of love as a “way” of life and of operating in the gifts of the Spirit. He went on to say that the Corinthians—and by extension, all believers should “eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy” (I Corinthians 14:1). Do not quench the Spirit. I Thessalonians 5:19

The only way that healing or miracles of protection would no longer be needed is if we were in New Jerusalem in the new heavens and new earth, where there’s “no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4). As long as people become ill, are injured are in pain or die, as long as there is spiritual warfare, miracles are still needed.

Many say that since they don’t see any miracles, miracles can’t exist—as though they themselves were the defining authority of what exists. One would have to be hiding in a cave to miss the many healings that the Holy Spirit has done through the ages and continues to do. Lesser known, but still happening, are the miracles of multiplying of food, and of supernatural protection from bandits..

I have personally been supernaturally healed, and even raised from the dead, so I am an eyewitness that these things have not “passed away.”