- How do I witness to people without being trapped in the things they’re doing (temptations to me)?
Our relationship with the world is necessary to share the gospel with them. We are to constantly look for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with those we encounter. The problem with sharing Christ with a lost world is our initial perspective. They don’t see what they’re doing as wrong because the Holy Spirit isn’t there with godly conviction and guidance. I have to be careful to approach them with love, compassion, and truth. I have to pray before every encounter with those lifestyles that may be appealing to my flesh, but I know are ungodly. I have to speak truth in love, but not just be there to hang out.
The key to this is knowing why you are there. If you are there to speak about God to someone, then you won’t put yourself in terrible situations. Don’t go places you know you can’t handle. Ask God to give you opportunities in other ways.
2 Timothy 3:16-17; Galatians 5:16; James 4:17 - How do we know the Bible is true?
The Bible is proven by several types of evidence- The Bible is God’s Word – God moved and guided the authors of the Bible as they wrote.
- The Bible is unique and unified – It is unique among all books in the world – it is composed of 66 different books, written by over 40 different writers that included shepherds, kings, priests, scholars, fishermen and prophets over 1500 years.
However, the message of the Bible is completely unified in its message even though it was written by so many different people for so many different purposes.
The Bible also reveals the major flaws of it’s heroes – most other religious writings paint their leaders as perfect. - The Bible has been faithfully passed down – the accuracy of what we read today has been safeguarded by things like counting of letters on a particular line or page when copies were made, The number of early texts help us see the copies were legitimate. Luke 24:6
- The Bible holds the key to eternal life – The Bible provides us ultimate answers to our greatest need (God’s forgiveness) and meets our deepest yearning (eternal life)
- Archaeological evidence – the places, people, events are backed up by scientific discoveries.
- It is a fact that no archaeological discovery has ever contradicted what is written in the Bible.
- The facts in the Bible have led scientists to over 1500 archaeological sites that have been excavated or are currently under excavation.
- Manmade religions teach that man can earn salvation of some kind through good works. The Bible says we are sinful and shows the solution to our problem was God becoming man and taking our punishment on himself.
- https://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/how-do-we-know-the-bible-is-true-2/
- The Bible contains fulfilled prophecy – Only the Bible has prophecy like this that has come 100% true when compared to other “holy” books from other religions
| The Messiah Would Be . . . | Prophesied | Fulfilled |
| Born of a virgin | Isaiah 7:14 | Matthew 1:25 |
| Born in Bethlehem | Micah 5:2 | Matthew 2:1, 6 |
| Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver | Zechariah 11:12 | Matthew 26:15, 49 |
| Have clothing divided at the Cross | Psalm 22:18 | John 19:24 |
| Wounded for our sins | Isaiah 53:5 | 1 Peter 2:24 |
| Killed for others | Daniel 9:26 | 2 Corinthians 5:21 |
| Raised from the dead Luke 24:6 | Psalm 16:10 |
- Should we take the Bible literally?
I have a question about this question – without opening up the entire scripture to anyone’s interpretation – how else could we take it?
Scripture is written in several different literary genres: poetry, lyrically, history, first person stories, third person stories, etc. You do have to read scripture correctly in relation to these types, but no matter the type – the message doesn’t change. God uses these people and their various styles to relate a REAL story to us – His love for us and His plan of redemption for us.
Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:4, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Isaiah 40:8, Proverbs 30:5, James 1:22 - What is a good way to battle temptation when you are struggling with reading the Bible and praying?
You answered your own question – the short answer is to read and pray.
When Jesus faced temptation through a 40 day fast in the wilderness, satan attacked Him using things all of us would be tempted by – food because He was hungry (lust of the flesh), show His power to the world (pride of life), all the material possessions and power the world could offer (lust of the eyes). Jesus was able to fight these temptations by using scripture and by leaning on His wilderness experience over the last 40 days.
Jesus used scripture to fight: Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, 6:13
Why are you struggling to read and pray? Isn’t it strange that the very things to help you battle temptation in a 100% effective way are the things you aren’t doing right now? - What does the Bible say about dinosaurs?
The Bible doesn’t use the word dinosaur. The word didn’t exist until 1841 – it means terrible lizard. The word dragon is in the Bible – other words for dinosaurs in Bible – Behemoth – Job 40:15-19
Leviathan – Job 41: 1,9,18-21 – could there really be a fire breathing dinosaur?
Fossils do exist and some of them are of creatures that don’t exist on our planet any longer. It is reasonable to assume species of animals became extinct during the world’s history just like species become extinct now. There are numerous animals in our world today that possess characteristics that don’t seem real – bombardier beetle – shoots boiling hot liquid out of its behind, duck billed platypus – a mammal that has poisonous spurs on its legs, giant snakehead (fish) – can live out of water for days, etc
You can visit Answers in Genesis for much more on this topic - What does the Bible say about the Nephilim?
Genesis 6:1-4; Numbers 13:33
The most common explanation is that “sons of God” refers to angels or fallen angels and “daughters of men” is self explanatory. The Nephilim are superhuman offspring of angels and human women. Jude 6-7 seem to point to this in some way. 1 Peter 3:19 also adds to this thought.
The second theory is that “sons of God” describe someone from the line of Seth (one of Adam and Eve’s other sons) had children with the “daughters of men” meaning people who did not worship God. The story is placed in scripture right after Cain wanders into the wilderness. So, there could be a connection between Cain’s offspring intermingling with people who were still worshiping God.
What is the final answer on this question: I’m not sure. You can research the info I’ve given and go from there if you’d like. However, I will caution anyone who decides to do that with a question – Is this going to change my spiritual life for the better or cause me to be a better, stronger follower of Jesus? - Will we remember our earthly lives – Isaiah 65:17?
The short answer is “yes”
First, The verse in Isaiah is actually referring to the new world, its splendor and beauty, and the fact there is no more sin and pain being so incredible that we completely forget what the old world was like.
It doesn’t refer to us not remembering anything from the previous life or earth.
The second point is our brains are only operating at a small fraction of what they’re capable of now. In heaven, we will have glorified bodies – and minds – we will understand things there we never understood here. We will know more and be able to do more – not less.
I think the confusion comes from us thinking if we are going to worship God all day, every day, then how can we have time or desire to know people. God is a God of relationships. He modeled that for us in the old and new testaments. He loves us and we love Him, but He also gave us others to love. I don’t find anything in scripture to suggest that is going away in heaven.
Moses and Elijah appeared on the mount of transfiguration in the new testament with Jesus. They didn’t have on name tags, but the writer clearly knew who they were. - Is it normal to have anxiety about death even though, as a believer in Jesus, I know where I will spend eternity?
Yes it is normal. The fact is, no one wants to die. We all would like to live full, happy lives with no trouble, sickness, accidents, etc.
We have seen over and over again, people receive “dying grace” at the time they are going through something that brings them to the time of death. People find peace and comfort in their relationship with God even though they have feared death.
The biggest issue about fearing death is usually the fear of missing out on life. Most of us love our lives here on earth – at least parts of them – and we don’t want to miss out on anything good if we were to die earlier than we want.
Romans 8:18, Matthew 11:28-30,
Any time we put our joy and hope in things this world has offered us, we stand to loose our joy and hope. This world and its circumstances will disappoint me sometimes. But if my ultimate hope and joy are in my relationship with Jesus, then ultimately, I will be ok if the things in this world don’t turn out like I want them to. - How do you know when God is talking to you?
The first way is to see if what God supposedly told you matches scripture. If God told you something that is different from what scripture says, then it cannot be from God. He will never contradict himself.
2 Peter 2:1-3, 2 Timothy 4:3-4,
Second, where did you hear it? Were you seeking Him or putting yourself in a place where He should be able to speak to you? If you weren’t listening to hear from Him or you didn’t intentionally seek to hear Him, then it is likely the voice you heard was not from Him.
Colossians 2:8,
Third, has what He told you been confirmed by Godly people in your life? Your pastor, life group teacher, spiritual mentor, etc (more than one confirmation is best). Normally, God will make it very clear that it is Him and not just some random voice. John 10:27-28
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