It is said,”God won’t give you more than you can handle.”
The rest of the premise says, “So if you’re going through it, God must think you can handle it.” The possible origin of this “thought for the day” is confusion about Paul’s earlier encouragement that, “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-14)
Paul also said that he and his co-workers “were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:8b,9)
God won’t let you be tempted with more than you can resist because he gives you a way out. Handling difficulties or trials is not about our ability but our reliance on God’s mighty power working in our behalf.
The Bible makes no mention of a “capital-a”, one person, Antichrist but many “antichrists” who had gone out from the first century church (yes, I checked the Greek). The term comes from John’s epistles in which he warns of the “Many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7) Certainly there are also many today who persist in unbelief and those who “deny that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22) and/or “who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” (2 John 7)—these have the same spirit of antichrist.
But these are the criteria, not as many believe today–having influence or being a persuasive speaker. This misinterpretation of the Scriptures has led to slanderous accusations of nearly any man who has been an international leader, whether political or religious, in last 100 years or so. If you’re a follower of Jesus going around fearfully pointing a finger at such men just because they have influence or a good speaking style—Stop it! You will have to answer one day for every careless word. (Matthew 12:36)
Instead, make sure that you aren’t one of the ones who “runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ…” and that you don’t welcome the one who “does not bring this teaching”. (2 John 9,10) The Church is all too willing to welcome false teachers these days. Don’t be distracted by non-Biblical paranoia—just make sure you’re obeying Jesus’ teachings and urge others to do the same.
It is said,“The Jerusalem Temple must be rebuilt before Jesus comes back.”It
The Bible doesn’t say this. There are some people who, in past 150 or so years have built a template of eschatology through which they interpret the Bible. They project Ezekiel’s vision of rebuilding the Temple thousands of years into the future (as in any year now) but in fact, “Ezekiel’s” Temple was already rebuilt after the Babylonian exile. (Ezekiel chapters 40-43; see also the books of Ezra and Nehemiah)
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, there is no longer a need for the Temple and its sacrificial system. (Hebrews 10:1; Ephesians 2:14) Instead, those who follow Jesus are “God’s temple” and “God’s Spirit lives in you”. (I Corinthians 3:16; see also Acts 17:24, I Cor. 3:17, 6:19)
God IS. Nothing we do or don’t do determines God’s being or character. The Bible is choc-full of admonitions to “Get wisdom, get understanding, though it cost you everything you have.”(Proverbs 4:7) The Good News is a revelation–a revealing of God, not a hiding. The point at which people get confused is they think that any understanding of God must come from their own brains’ reckoning (they also forget that God created our brains) rather than from the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
It is said,“Even though he didn’t receive physical healing (and died), he got the ultimate healing—a spiritual one.”It i
If a person is a follower of Jesus, we can rejoice that when he dies, it’s not the end and his spirit will continue in Jesus’ presence though his body was not healed. (Take your questions about why he wasn’t healed to Jesus and his word—not to the “traditions of men” or your imagination.) However, the idea that the physical body (and thereby physical healing) is less important or unimportant, that only the spiritual counts, doesn’t come from the Bible but from Gnosticism, which taught that material things are evil and only the spiritual is valuable. Paul warned Timothy about such teachings. (1 Timothy 6:20, 21)
Physical healing was/is so important that Jesus considered it proof that he was “the one who is to come”. (Luke 7:20-23)
If a person has died, (sorry to have to put it so bluntly) his body is not healed; it is dead until the last day when it will be renewed.
The Bible does not portray death as healing— Jesus never said, Ah, because this person has died, she has received the ultimate healing. In fact, Jesus raised every dead person he encountered. The Bible does say that death is an enemy—the last one for Jesus to destroy. (1 Corinthians 15:26) While death is not our friend, Jesus removes the sting of death by receiving his followers’ spirits on the other side of it.
The Resurrection of the Dead on the final day is the ultimate healing.
Imagine, if you will, that you had an older brother with whom you were really close. One day you began crossing a street without seeing a speeding truck that was headed straight for you. But your brother saw it and threw himself at you to knock you out of the truck’s path. You thankfully were saved but sadly, your brother was killed by the speeding truck.
In the realization that you were saved by your brother’s sacrifice you’re at the same time thankful yet devastated by the loss. The pain is dulled slightly by the discovery that your brother had named you as the beneficiary of a great inheritance.
In your desire to always remember what your brother did for you, do you wear a gold truck around your neck and proclaim, “O wonderful truck”? Of course not, you would tell everyone about your wonderful brother!
So why focus on a cross? The early church understood that our focus is to be on Jesus and not the cross as they did not use the cross for symbolism or art; some sources say that such use was forbidden. They saw the cross as what it was, a cruel instrument of tortuous execution by an oppressive empire–a curse (Galatians 3:13).
While Jesus said that he laid his life down—no one took it from him, (John 10:17, 18) he didn’t like the idea of dying on a cross and asked his Father for another way (Matthew 26:36-44). If anyone were to have a spiritual ecstasy over the cross, you’d think it would be Jesus but no, he was miserable at Gethsemane, miserable when he was beaten and miserable on the cross. It was “for the joy set before him [that he] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) The cross was neither the object nor the end; Jesus endured the cross for what was on the other side! Yes, Jesus did say that we are to “take up [our] cross” (Matthew 10:38) as parts of the popular song that has the line “O the wonderful cross” say–to deny our sin nature and to rejoice when we’re persecuted for his name. But chances are that if you’re thinking the cross is wonderful–you’re not really carrying it.
“Forgiveness is an act of the will, just make up your mind and do it whether you feel like it or not.”
Yes and no.
Yes, we disciples of Jesus are commanded to forgive (those who repent- Luke 17:3b, 4) but to settle for a determination of the will is to stop dangerously short of Jesus’ command.
Jesus summed up his parable of the wicked servant who, though he had been forgiven refused to forgive his fellow servant with this stern warning, “In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive from your heart.” (Matthew 18:34; emphasis added) The apostle Paul added that everything we do must be done in love or it’s nothing—worthless. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
It is said, “Preach the gospel always; if necessary use words.”
St. Francis undoubtedly meant that you have to live the gospel, which is very true though his lifestyle was so radical that even in his homeland with its “Christian” worldview, it wouldn’t have been hard to notice something was different. However, Francis was no Trappist (a monk who takes a vow of silence) and had plenty to say or we wouldn’t have so many of his quotes!
Today (amazingly) words are always necessary in proclaiming the gospel. I’ve met very nice and helpful Hindus and Buddhists. I’ve known Muslims who believe in being very moral and hospitable. So, unless you tell people why you do what you do (and don’t) they won’t necessarily know that you serve Jesus and how they can serve him too. Words alone aren’t enough and can quickly lead to hypocrisy.
It is said,“Jesus taught in parables to make his teachings easier to understand.”
No, Jesus specifically said that he taught in parables so that the people would NOT understand (Matthew 13:10,11) in fulfilment of a specific prophecy ((Matthew 13:13). Even his disciples had to ask him what he meant by the parables. Later one exclaimed, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.”(John 16:29)
Jesus’ meanings were hidden to the Jewish people with the exception of the few (relatively) who followed him. (Matthew 13:10,11)
Urban Legends About God, the Bible & the Christian Life 