What do you believe? And why do you believe it?
This is a fantastic question, and I’d like for everyone to answer this for themselves. Most of the time, we believe what we believe because that’s how we were taught. As we get older, we base more of our beliefs on our own experiences, but then everyone’s experience is different depending on the situation. So, that doesn’t always help. You could experience something fantastic, yet your friend could experience the exact same thing and find it horrible!
A good example of this is a storm. Personally, when it's lightly thundering and raining, I get the best sleep ever. It’s calming, and I like it, but I know some folks that are scared to death of storms, and they freak out. We could be in the same house looking at the same storm at the same time, but yet there are two different results.
So, did the storm change?
No, the storm was the same. A storm is a storm, but what changed is the experience we had from it. It’s the same way with the truth. The truth does not change, but it seams that somehow everybody's truth is a little different, really?
Anyway, with that being said, we clearly can see that experiences aren’t the best thing to base truth on, or your belief.
Now, let’s look at what you were taught. If you believe something because that’s what you were taught, how do you know what you were taught was or is true? Remember what our dearly missed president would say, “We don’t want to confuse truth with facts”. lol.
Here’s a good example from my life. When I was growing up, I liked this movie called Old Yeller. The main boy in the movie was Tommy Kirk. I always thought we could be friends, because I thought we were about the same age, and I thought it’d be cool to meet him. So, I told my dad that I’d like to meet him sometime, and he said, “Unfortunately, Tommy Kirk died in a plane crash.” And that was it—that was the truth about that matter as I knew it. I don’t remember telling anyone else that truth, but it was the only truth I thought I knew about Tommy Kirk. Years later, I saw an interview with Tommy Kirk as an old man, and I found out he didn’t die in a plane crash at all. That was just something my dad had heard, or made up, or thought it was true.
So now we see that even if you’re taught something, it might not be the actual truth. Now, I know what you’re thinking—nowadays, we don’t have to worry about that because we have Google, and we can look up the facts there.
Before you check out teacher Google, let me point out that I just went to Google and asked, “Who is Jesus?” Google offered me the facts: “Jesus was a first-century Jewish preacher, religious leader, and a central figure of Christianity.”
Now, I find this intriguing. (I learned this word from a friend. It’s a good word.) But what I find so cool about this is that “without a shadow of a doubt” Google knows what it’s talking about. Guaranteed.
Because we all know for a fact that Jesus was just in the past, and he definitely was a religious leader, I mean Google is spot on because, Jesus was definitely the perfect example of a religious leader who played everything safe. He wasn’t one to rock the boat or say anything controversial. Every time he spoke, it was with the utmost respect for tradition, always making sure to reinforce the rules the Pharisees had set up over the years. He spent his days teaching in the temple, going over every tiny detail of the law. Everyone loved how meticulously he followed every ritual and regulation without a hint of complaint. There was never a parable or story that even hinted at challenging the status quo, instead, he just reaffirmed how great it was to live by every rule and tradition.
He didn’t associate with the so-called “undesirable” crowd, either. No tax collectors, no prostitutes, no lepers. He strictly avoided them, only surrounding himself with the religious elite. After all, he didn’t want anyone to think he was endorsing the wrong kind of people. And forget about healing on the Sabbath. Jesus knew better than to disturb the Sabbath with any unnecessary work – he was far too focused on preserving the sacredness of rest. Anyone who came to him on the Sabbath with a need? Well, Jesus just told them they would have to come back during business hours.
Oh boy, the best part is when it came to forgiveness, Jesus made sure to emphasize that it wasn’t for everyone. He’d remind people of every mistake they’d ever made and encouraged the Pharisees to keep holding people accountable to the very end. “Forgive them? Not so fast,” he’d say, making sure that everyone understood the importance of keeping track of every infraction. Mercy was reserved for those who had already proven themselves worthy, and grace was only for those who didn’t need it.
The crowds loved his practical, no-nonsense approach, especially when he performed his well-organized, Pharisees pre-approved miracles. If anyone even thought about touching his cloak for healing, they’d be met with a quick reminder of the correct procedures. Every miracle was done under the supervision of the Pharisees, with strict adherence to all the temple guidelines. There was nothing spontaneous or unpredictable about it. He had no need to wander through towns, meeting people where they were. He stayed right where he was, waiting for people to clean themselves up and then come find him at his religious gatherings, as any good religious leader should.
Then came the time when the Romans got a little suspicious of this rising religious figure. They showed up, looking for someone to pin the blame on, but the Pharisees were ready. They gathered around Jesus, forming a protective wall, and they told the Romans they had the wrong guy. “He’s not challenging anything,” they said. “He’s upholding our traditions perfectly.”
Jesus tried to plead guilty and begged the Romans to crucify him because he was so looking forward to the suffering, but the Pharisees would hear none of it and rebuked him for saying such things. And so, the Romans backed off, and so began the fall of Rome.
After all that was done, God knew his plan wouldn't work because everyone was so obedient and so his Son didn't have to worry about dying for anyones sins, because they were all perfect, So God told Jesus to come back and prepare a place for us, but Jesus assured him that he did not need to go anywhere because the Pharisees and all the religious folks were building his kingdom here on Earth, so he decided to stay, and after he met everyone on that side of the world, Jesus sailed over to the USA and took up residence in the grandest building of all, that right St. Mary’s Cathedral, right in the heart of New York City. He traded in his sandals for a tailored robe and spent his days baptizing babies at 9 a.m. every Sabbath.
What about His plans to return and shake things up? Oh, No problem. Jesus decided just to say that all those prophecies about him doing that were all metaphors, and the phropets of old really didn’t write it down right, so that helped smooth everything over especially for those strict religious denominations. Things were running so smoothly down here, with everyone respecting his teachings and living in perfect harmony. There was no need for any heavenly kingdom – the people had already brought it down to earth, creating the ultimate place where everyone could go on with their traditions without interruption, living out God's new plan to perfection.
With all that being said, Jesus chose to stay put, surrounded by the people who understood him best, never challenging, never questioning. And now we live in a world of complete, unquestioned peace, all thanks to the harmony and order he brought by sticking to tradition and never stepping out of line. Heaven on earth, indeed – just the way it was always meant to be.
Whoa! I stepped away to get a cup of coffee, and good gracious, Siri had all kinds of stuff written up. I even crack myself up on that one! lol
The rest of the story
But seriously, folks, we need to understand what truth is and where we get what we believe. The only thing Google had right was that Jesus was a Jew. So let’s start over and see where we get all this stuff from.
If we’re from this world, we’ll love the things of this world. If we’re from God, we’ll love the things of God. So where are we learning truth from?
What is truth? Pilate asked Jesus this question, and it’s an important one. Let’s go back to Dr. Google and see what it says.
“Truth is the quality of being in agreement with reality or fact.”
That sounds pretty good. But as we’ve seen before, Google doesn’t always know the right answer. Since we’ve already talked about Jesus, let’s see what he says:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
So let’s ask ourselves something simple. If we’re followers of Jesus (that’s what people say when they claim to be Christians—though “Christian” is too loose of a term these days, used by anyone who’s not an atheist or an ISIS member), let’s consider what following Jesus looks like.
Now, this is some mind-blowing stuff! But just like I said before, Following Jesus is as simple as following Him. You can’t follow Jesus if you’re walking in the opposite direction. I used to believe heaven and hell were at a fork in the road, and depending on which fork you took, you’d end up in one or the other. But that’s not the case. Heaven and hell are on a horizontal line. If you go one way, you’re heading straight for hell. If you turn 180 degrees in the opposite direction, you’re going to heaven. The only one who can turn you that 180 degrees is Jesus. He’s the only way, as we’ve seen before.
Now some people do a 360—they turn, see Jesus, but keep walking in the opposite direction, now carrying a bag full of religion. It sounds good and looks good, but they’re still going the wrong way, even though they felt “the BIG turn”.
So, let me say this again: If you’re following Jesus in the opposite direction, you’re not really following Jesus. It’s really that simple. And it’s the same with why you believe what you believe.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, the only truth is Jesus. There’s no other option. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. Once Jesus is in our hearts and his Spirit fills us, He leads us into all truth, which is Jesus himself. There’s no room for the lies of this world. Whenever you learn something, or someone teaches you something, or you discover a new “truth,” you have to make sure it matches up with what the Holy Spirit is telling you—and also with what the Bible says.
If you believe something you were taught, the only way to know if it’s true is if you’ve seen it firsthand or can back it up with pure truth. And as we’ve seen, the only truth we have is Jesus. If something contradicts Jesus or His word in any way, then we automatically know it’s false information. It’s not truth; it’s the world’s facts, which are, in fact, lies.
Satan is the ruler of this world, and the Bible says he’s a liar and the father of lies. The last thing Satan wants people to know is the truth. Because, again, Jesus said, “If you know the truth, the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) You can’t be free without truth, and you can’t have truth without it being free. Jesus gave us the free gift of Himself, which is pure truth. How awesome is that?
Down to the nitty gritty
Now that we’ve gotten the introduction out of the way, I wanted to get to the main point of this article. I was reading in Jeremiah the other day, and I came across a passage where it says the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, and the heavens cannot be measured (Jeremiah 31:37). This gave me an idea. I decided to go the scientific route and ask Dr. Google if the earth has a foundation, and this is what I found:
“No, scientifically speaking, the earth does not have a ‘foundation’ in the sense of a solid base or structure supporting it. Instead, it is a spherical planet floating in space, held in orbit around the sun by gravity, with its internal structure consisting of a core, mantle, and crust, all interconnected and not resting on anything.”
Which is all stuff we learned in school, right? But did we learn in school what the Bible says?
Good question. After I read that, I thought, “Let’s try something a little different.” So, I searched the Bible app for “Does the earth have a foundation?” and here’s what I found.
1. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone?” (Job 38:4-6)
2. “He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” (Psalm 104:5)
3. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?” (Isaiah 40:21)
4. “When he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.” (Proverbs 8:29)
5. “The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares…” (Zechariah 12:1)
6. “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.” (Psalm 102:25)
7. “My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together.” (Isaiah 48:13)
8. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting them away for the evil they have done. I, the Lord, have spoken!’” (Jeremiah 31:37)
Did we learn in school that the Bible says the earth has a foundation? Did we learn that science and the Bible disagree on this subject, but are aligned on everything else?
The answer is NO. Nowhere in school will you find that. So which one is right? Do you believe scientists or do you believe God?
Most Christians that say they believe the Bible says that God created the whole universe in six days. But when you say the Bible says the earth has a foundation, they’re like, “Nah, God couldn’t have done that.” Folks say they believe in 6 days of creation but still believe in millions of years of evolving crap, It just doesn’t make sense folks. But one thing that does make sense, is if your whole theory is that an atom exploded and now everything is in constant motion, it’s only feasible that the earth has no foundation. How can something constantly moving at a gazillion miles per hour have a foundation? also if stuff is moving and expoding maybe it would take millions of years for it to settle back down? who knows, but I have yet to see pieces from something blown up by tannarite make something perfect besides a perfect mess to clean up. lol
Common sense tells you that if you’re following Jesus, you’re going to believe the Bible about God sending His only Son in human form to save the world by giving His sinless life for us and all of our sins taken upon Himself, and make a way to eternal life for all of us, by raising from the grave, concurring sin and death for each and everyone of us so we can believe in Him and never die. (John11:25) If you believe that, then you have to believe the Bible tells the truth. And if something contradicts the Bible, then it’s a lie. It’s really that simple.
I would like people to look at this from an unbiased outlook. If you just read the Bible as a history book, you would still come to the conclusion that the Bible tells the truth. But if you approach the Bible as a fairy tale book of religion, then that’s how you’re going to see all this—in metaphoric terms. The only reason you think of it that way is because in school, you’re taught that science is the supreme knowledge and you have to believe whatever scientists tell you. But if you know the Bible, you know that supreme knowledge only comes from God. So, I’ll ask you again, which one do you think is correct?
I know folks are going to say “well, if you say the Earth has a foundation that you are a flat earther and you must a tinfoil hat on” I had my share of aluminum foil stuff growing up, and I love to use it on my grill while grilling steak, but I have never considered making a hat out of it even though it would be pretty shiny lol
But I want to make it very clear that I’m not saying the earth is flat or round. I’ve never seen the whole earth, so I can’t confirm that through reality, so I don’t know what the shape is or how it works. But one thing I can tell you with 100% certainty is that the only Adam that exploded in the Bible was when Eve ate the fruit! Lol.
You can’t mix truth with lies. Jesus said a kingdom divided cannot stand. (Mark 3:24) You can’t have two masters. (Matthew 6:24) You can’t love and hate a fellow believer. (1 John 4:20) It just doesn’t work in any way, shape, or form. You can’t add the Big Bang theory as a part of God’s creation plan. He’s either God, or He’s not. Jesus either came, or He didn’t. It’s either day or night.
So, I’ll ask the same question I asked at the beginning:
What do you believe? And why do you believe it?
As always, I hope someone gets some entertainment out of this and maybe some encouragement. And until next time, Read your bible, not just these verses I mentioned, but the whole dang thing, from Genesis to Revelation, and may the good Lord bless you!
“Listen to our song from this article here:”
~Joe Lester~