LITMIR.BIZ

      Raising a Smile

      This work is dedicated to you, Reader: to helping you understand the good message that God has for you

      for Bowen

      in memory of Chris

      with thanks to Sammy

      Introduction

      There is a particular expression I love in the Bible.

      You can find it in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 1, and also at the end of the New Testament in the book of Revelation chapter 10 verse 9

      To paraphrase the text, it says: ‘eat this book!’

      God doesn’t want us to just read the Bible - God wants us to consume it, understand it, and let his word become part of who we are.

      If you’re like me, you’ll want to read the list of ingredients to understand what’s in the food you eat. Similarly, if we are going to consume the word of God, it is important that we understand the nuts and bolts of what we are reading.

      The explanations are not deep theological explorations - I’m not going to pretend to be that clever. I’m just trying to explain the basic principles of the Bible in the way that I would have liked them explained to me when I was new to it all.

      I’ve used five English translations of the Bible to help you fully understand what it means for you:

      King James Version (KJV)

      New Living Translation (NLT)

      English Standard Version (ESV)

      New International Version (NIV)

      The Message paraphrased version (MSG)

      Each Bible version is identified (in brackets) after each quotation in the text. In each case I have tried to use the Bible version that most clearly explains God's message, trusting that the meaning will be perfectly clear to you.

      For this is how God loved the world:

      He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

      The words of Jesus Christ

      John 3:16 (NLT)

      Amen

      ‘Amen’ is a word you frequently hear in church.

      People normally end a prayer or a reading from the Bible with “Amen,” but what does it mean?

      What are we saying to God when we talk to him and then say, Amen?

      Yes.

      Yes, I solemnly agree with this statement,

      or, Yes, what I say is God’s solemn truth.

      When we say Amen, we are stating a solemn Yes to God. For example, in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy chapter 27 you can read how Moses commanded the people to make a series of promises to obey God, and after each promise the people said, “Amen” by which they meant, “Yes. Absolutely”, because they were making a solemn commitment to keep each of those promises.

      Many of the books and letters of the New Testament end with Amen. In this context Amen means that the writer is sealing what he has written with the solemn declaration that this is the truth: Yes, what I have written here is the truth of God.

      Amen is also translated into English language versions of the Bible using the words, Verily, and Truly.

      So, a statement that begins, “Amen, Amen,” may have been translated as “Verily, verily,…” or “Truly, truly,…” or “Very truly I tell you,….”

      The only person in the Bible who uses this double Amen at the beginning of a statement is Jesus Christ.

      Why did Jesus Christ begin some of his statements with "Amen, Amen" ?

      When we speak the truth of God, or the truth to God, we end with the word Amen, and this is appropriate.

      However, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and God is the God of truth, a fact that the prophet Isaiah emphasizes when he says, ‘he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth’ (Isaiah chapter 65 verse 16 - ESV)

      What this means is that when Jesus Christ speaks, he only speaks the truth because he is the Son of God, and he is therefore qualified to begin an important statement with the words, Amen, Amen,…

      Jesus Christ is quoted as saying, “Amen, Amen” at the beginning of several of his statements in the Gospel of John. And by using this double Amen, Jesus is emphasizing the fact that what he is saying is very important - so sit up and pay attention.

      “Truly, truly, [Amen, Amen] I say to you, whoever hears my word, and believes on him who sent me, has eternal life. He shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John chapter 5 verse 24 - ESV)

      We say Amen when we speak the solemn truth to God.

      We say Amen when we speak the solemn truth of God.

      Angels

      Movies and storybooks often depict an angel as a lovely demure person wearing a big white nightdress, and drifting about on a large pair of wings. Really?

      In the original language of the Old Testament, the word that has been used for angel,

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