"Heaven helps those who help themselves" is not in the bible from my understanding, rather its the opposite. God helps the helpless, the powerless etc. please enlighten me more on this, thank you.
It is not in the Bible. However, we should not completely discard the "possible" underlying interpretation the initial writer of the quote was trying to convey
Abraham had two sons, the one by Sarah (a freewoman) and the other by Hagar (a bondwoman). However, we see in Genesis chapter 22 that in three different occasions, God referred to Isaac as the only son of Abraham, in total disregard of Ishmael as a son. So, in what sense is Isaac the only Son of Abraham? (Genesis 22:2 KJV) And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:12 KJV) And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:16 KJV) And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son , thine only son. First notice that the second time the word ‘ son ’ is used in all the above verses, it is in italics, indica...
The Bible says that Jesus Christ came not only by water, but by water and blood. What does this statement mean? (1 John 5:6 KJV) This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. The secret to understanding this scripture is in the context. John used many verses in his 1st epistle to affirm that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (i.e. in real human body) and to counter the teachings and belief of some in those days that Jesus never came in the flesh. (1 John 1:1-2 NIV) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched --this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1 John 4:1-2 NLT) Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claim...
This is a continuation of my previous post " Is The Rapture Biblical " Why would the saints rise to meet Christ in the air, when He is on His way to the earth to defeat evil and to establish the Kingdom of God here? Why not simply wait for Him to arrive? Those who teach the rapture make much of this issue, claiming that it buttresses their theory. In fact, the truth of the matter actually further discredits their erroneous teaching. We need to look at the meaning of the Greek term translated “to meet” that Christ inspired Paul to use in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Dr. Leon Morris writes in the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: “The expression translated to meet is kind of a technical term ‘for the official welcome of a newly arrived dignitary’…and is very suitable in this context.” Notice that it pertains to a newly arrived dignitary, not to one who is merely passing through. In no way does it convey that Christ only enters the atmosphere and then reverses cou...
There is so much misunderstanding in the Church today regarding the gift of prophecy. Many people believe that prophecy only refers to telling something before it happens. However, even in the Old Testament, the messages of the prophets contained as much, if not more, about the present than they did about the future. In Hebrew, the word translated prophecy is based on the word stem nābā, which simply means “to speak by divine inspiration, either in prediction or simple discourse.” “ Prophecies ” is transliterated (i.e. brought straight over from Greek to English) from the noun prophēteia . It is made up of pro , meaning “before, in time or position” and a form of the verb phēmi , meaning “to tell.” The verb form of this word can refer EITHER : Foretelling (predicting or telling something before it happens). It seeks to predict the future. It predicts or reveals personalities, occurrences, circumstances that will hap...
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” — John 6:53 (KJV) These are among the most controversial words Jesus ever spoke — so much so that many of His own disciples turned away from following Him after this (John 6:66). But what did He really mean? Was He speaking literally… or was there a spiritual mystery hidden in His words? Let’s walk through this verse with reverence and clarity, using Scripture to interpret Scripture. What Does “Eat My Flesh” Mean? To understand this, we must first know who “the flesh of the Son of Man” is. Jesus is not just the eternal Word — He is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). This “flesh” represents more than just physical body — it speaks of: His humanity His incarnation (birth in human form) His earthly life and suffering His identity as the prophesied Son of Man So when Jesus says, “eat my flesh,” He is saying: Yo...
Many Christians thought that Jacob worked seven years for Laban, realized that Laban deceived him to marry Leah, and then worked seven more years before finally getting married to Rachel. However the bible shows that he took both Leah and Rachel immediately before he began serving Laban. For clarity, I advise you to read this Jacob's story in other translations of the Bible aside King James Version (KJV). Meanwhile lets look at look at some of the facts from the Bible: (Genesis 29:21 KJV) And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. Please note that the 7 years of service required of Jacob were the total dowry and not the customary waiting period before a wife was given to the groom. In other words, Jacob took Leah after the customary waiting period which was a couple of days just like we read in vs 21. Notice that he said, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled" implying a certain number of d...
In the book of John 20:17, Jesus address His Father as "My God". Also he called Him "My God" in the book of Matthew 27:46 and Revelation 3:12. There are other Bible references where the terms, "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" were used. Does it mean Jesus is not the true God since he has someone he calls God? (John 20:17 KJV) Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God , and your God. (Matthew 27:46 KJV) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God , my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Revelation 3:12 KJV) Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God , and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God , which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God...
The answer to this question, "who should we pray to" should be straightforward after a study of the Bible. Yet a lot of Christians are still not certain who they should address their prayers to. While many pray to the Father, others pray to Jesus in the name of Jesus. Yet a few others pray to the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. Should we only pray to the Father in the name of Jesus? Or is it appropriate to pray directly to Jesus? Is it appropriate to pray directly to the Holy Spirit? Is it appropriate to pray in the name of the Father? But you may say, does it really matter who we address our prayers to since it is answered anyway? Afterall, the three Persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are God and they all agree in one. Well, even though you have been receiving some answers to your prayers, the right knowledge of who you should address your prayers may be all you need to receive many more answered prayers. The Bible tells us that God overlooks our days of ignor...
The bible says in Malachi 3:6 (KJV) "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." What does this statement mean? Does God repent or change His mind? I change not could only refer to basic character and to keeping covenant, not to acts of judgment or mercy when needed. God has repented or changed His mind when it became necessary because of free moral agents revelling to the point of judgment and this was in keeping with His character. He is absolute in holiness and justice, and is morally and divinely obligated for the good of all to judge the few or all if need be or to show mercy to one and all should they meet the conditions of mercy. God does not and cannot change His original and eternal plan and purpose, but He can and does change some ways and means of fulfilling the plan.
"Heaven helps those who help themselves" is not in the bible from my understanding, rather its the opposite.
ReplyDeleteGod helps the helpless, the powerless etc.
please enlighten me more on this, thank you.
Nice try Nze. Let's wait for comments from others.
ReplyDeleteNze, you are absolutely correct.
ReplyDeleteIt is not in the Bible. However, we should not completely discard the "possible" underlying interpretation the initial writer of the quote was trying to convey
ReplyDelete