In Perspective

For more than four centuries, the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible has been cherished for its majestic language and deep influence on Christian worship and English literature. Many believers still find comfort in its familiar wording and poetic style. However, the world has changed significantly since 1611.  Advances in archaeology, biblical scholarship, and language studies have given us access to far earlier manuscripts and more precise translations. While the KJV remains a valuable part of the Christian tradition, it is not always the most practical or accurate choice if used alone. Understanding both its strengths and limitations helps readers make the best use of Scripture today. Why the KJV May Not Be the Best Sole Version Today 1. Not Based on the Best Manuscripts The KJV’s New Testament relies on the Textus Receptus, compiled in the 1500s from relatively late manuscripts. Since then, thousands of older and more reliable manuscripts—such as Codex Sinaiticus and Codex V...

Everyone believes something about God. Everyone has a belief, an opinion, or an idea that they hold about who God is and what He is to them. So how much do you know your God ? If you think God doesn't exist, then that's what you believe about him. And with that over-arching belief, you form more ideas or opinions about this non-existent God. And all that you believe and hold about that God make up the faith you hold and that faith moves you in life. It is at the core of your existence, your thoughts, behaviours and actions. You might say, "Well, He is not my God since I don't believe one exists." Still, He is the God you know and refer to... The non-existent one." The Christian believes in God who exists and reveals Himself through Scriptures. And his belief can be shallow or deep. He may be acquainted with God or deeply familiar and intimate with Him. So to the Christian, the question is, "Do you know your God?" Knowing your God is your choice Know...

Reading the Bible is not Enough Reading your Bible is not enough . Hearing God's message from preachers is never enough. 3 minutes or 5 minutes with God using Our Daily Bread or some devotional books is not enough. We Christians need to stop making excuses for our laziness. We need to deal with the fact that we're backslidden. We've grown cold. There's something terribly wrong when we're comfortable and satisfied with reading a few verses, and content to just sit back and listen to others talk about the Word of God. We need to be IN the Word. You and I need to be students of the Word. You need to hear from God and encounter Him yourself. Receiving encouragement and teaching from others are good but you need to discover and process God's very words yourself. Listening to other people's experiences, ideas, and understanding about God and His Truths can only carry you so far in your faith life or Christian walk. It's your personal time wit...

All things work together for good Romans 8:28 is a well-known verse that Christians usually memorize or list down under "God's Promises." It says, "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God:  those who are called according to His purpose." Is this really a promise from God? Is this a sure promise that we can claim? Is Romans 8:28 true? Or is the Bible lying in this particular verse? Because, by experience, people know that NOT all things turn out good in the end. So, what exactly does this Scripture mean? And is it for everyone? Let's take a closer look at Romans 8:28 and understand what the verse is actually telling us today. Romans 8:28 in different bible translations We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. (HCSB)/similar in form with NIV. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who lov...

https://pixabay.com/en/users/ju-dit-1785335/ Reading: Matthew 22:23-33 Marked: v. 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Reflection: In this passage, Jesus confronts the Sadducees about their ignorance of Scriptures and of God. They didn't believe in the resurrection because they had a very limited view of God. They had a very limited view of God because they failed to understand Scriptures. Like the Sadducees, Christians can be ignorant of Scriptures. Like them, we can hold a very limited view of God. Sadly, we can fall into error too. Though by faith we know that there is a coming resurrection, we fail to understand all that this truth holds for us. Death is about loss. It's about endings. Resurrection is about life. It's about all that we gain in Christ. Are we living as people who are convinced in the resurrection power of God? Do we move about this world confident in the capacities of the O...

https://pixabay.com/en/users/StockSnap-894430/ Here's a piece I wrote for Godinterest.com: https://godinterest.com/2018/02/24/what-does-put-gods-word-first-really-mean/

https://pixabay.com/en/users/StockSnap-894430/ We expend time, energy, attention, and other resources on a daily basis. What do we expend all these on? Our whole life is a collection of our daily life. It happens one day at a time and at the end of our life, can we look back and be satisfied with how we have spent it? As Christians, can we say that we made time with God's Word a priority? The Word of God is important to a Christian. It is normally "in your face", easily accessible on a daily basis. Yet often, it is most neglected, set aside for other pursuits and preoccupations. In an interview , Rev. Billy Graham shared some regrets he had in his life. He said that he regretted not spending more time with God and His Word. He wished he had studied more and preached less. "People have pressured me into speaking to groups when I should have been studying and preparing, " he said. The Word of God is key to understanding the issues of life. Psalm 1...

https://pixabay.com/en/users/StockSnap-894430/ Bible Reading: Job 1 Meditation Job was steadfast. He was resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. He was loyal and committed, two qualities which are hard to find in the world we live in today. To be loyal and committed is to stay true and single-minded about someone. It is to think and feel consistently towards someone regardless of his disposition. It is to be unchanging in your regard and affection towards someone even at their lowest points, even at your lowest points. His wife was blessed to have him for a husband. She wouldn't have had any headaches for Job was faithful. He did right by her. He would have nothing to do with evil practices. He was blameless. No one had anything to say or hold against him. His children were blessed to have him for a dad. Verse 5 says that each time his kids had a party, Job constantly gave consecration and burnt offerings for each one afterwards, in case they had committed sin aga...

https://pixabay.com/en/gerbera-pink-flower-blossom-bloom-1250287/ Here are some first mentions and other facts in the Bible: First Mention of the Trinity- Genesis 1:26 First Sabbath- God. Genesis 2:1 First Marriage- Adam & Eve Genesis 2: 23 (24,25) First Sin- Disobedience. Genesis 3:6 First Mention of Cherubim: Genesis 3:24 First Mention of Pregnancy & Childbirth- Eve with Cain. Genesis 4:1 First Parents- Adam & Eve. Genesis 4:1 First Death- Abel. Genesis Genesis 4:8 First Murder- Abel. Genesis 4:8 First Exile- Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden or Cain from God's presence and home base? Genesis 4:1,16 First Mention of Polygamy- Lamech to two wives (Adah, Zilah) . Genesis 4:19 First Mention of Worship/Religion. After the birth of Seth. Genesis 4:26 How Long Adam, the first man, lived- 930 years. Genesis 5:5 First Human to be brought to Heaven- Enoch. Genesis 5:24 First Limiting of Man's LifeSpan. 120 years. Genesis 6:3 First Rain, First St...

https://pixabay.com/en/users/Kaufdex-2137215/ Bible Reading: Genesis 12 Marked: Genesis 12: 1-3 1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” We officially call it the "Abrahamic Covenant" today but it was simply God exercising His Sovereignty and innate right to choose from among His creation. In generosity, God chose Abraham to inherit a land. He chose Abraham to be most especially blessed. He chose Abraham to father a nation that will be blessed because of him. He chose Abraham and his descendants to be channels of blessing in which all others will share in his blessing and will be granted blessings because of him. He chose Abra...

https://pixabay.com/en/mushrooms-brown-mushrooms-herbs-3069811/ Meditation: Genesis 1:29-30 And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.  And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. AMPC Thoughts Before sin entered the picture, both man and creatures were vegetarians. There was no killing nor was there any desire to kill for meat. I can't imagine myself not eating meat and would sort of feel a loss if I had never tasted meat. Grilled meat is a favorite of mine. But this appetite for meat, this practice of killing for meat was not God's original plan. God meant for man to rule over all the earth, but not harm His creation.

https://pixabay.com/en/autumn-fall-ground-leaves-man-1869160/ Meditations Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being. AMPC Thoughts God is a creative creator. With His Word He can make wonderful things. With man, He chose to be even more creative and demonstrative, perhaps, to bless His creation with a chance to witness Him creating something. How greatly awed must all of His creation be, including the animals (they were created before man was) as He fashioned man from the ground and breathed into His very nostrils the breath of life. What man only imagined years and years later to depict in Sci-Fi movies, Genesis 2 has already described and told us way, way ahead! Genesis 2:15, 19 And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it. AMPC And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and...

https://pixabay.com/en/constrictor-snake-close-danger-boa-2808200/ Meditations: Genesis 3 (AMP) Genesis 3:1 And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?" Thoughts: Sin and temptation always challenge the truth and reliability of God's Word and His plans. The Devil is always out to get us to doubt and deny what God says and wants in our lives. Once we begin the path to doubt, sin is never far off. Genesis 3:4-6 But the serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!  For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.” And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it...

https://pixabay.com/en/enpi-adam-abel-cain-1317747/ Bible Reading: Genesis 4  AMP Genesis 4: 3-7  And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect and regard for A bel and for his offering,  But for [a]Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he looked sad and depressed.  And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected?  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it. Thoughts T he matter here may be whether Cain gave His best for his offering or not. The matter here may also be whether Cain gave the right offering God would take pleasure in or not. In a number of Scripture translations like that in the NIV, it doe...

https://pixabay.com/en/father-and-son-happiness-love-2258681/ Bible Reading: Genesis 5  AMPC Meditations: Genesis 5: 5 Adam lived 930 years, and he died.  8 Seth lived 912 years, and he died. Adam reached 930 years and after him, the years have slowly gone down. It may be due to a number of factors. Environmental changes would be one, nature like man was slowly wasting away and the earth was no longer in a prime condition as it was during the immortal days of Adam and Eve. Stress factors also contributed to physical degeneration. Man was no longer in control and animals, especially the wild ones no longer answered to him. The era of hunting began. Animals witnessed the first of their kind slain for Adam and Eve's clothing. Fear and mistrust already began, and surely, hostility. Man now faced danger from large, powerful, wild animals who would no longer submit to humanity. Who really became the first predator? That's one interesting thing we can only speculate on. ...