The Answerer

Not by CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation) as the Ambulance/Paramedics people do today. Put simply, Jesus carried within him God’s power to do anything. Not in a doctors ‘black bag’, but in his power as the Son of God. That mighty power could not be seen with our eyes. Jesus silently sometimes, and speaking at other times, simply called on God’s power to raise a person to life.

There was the 12 year old girl, one of my favourite stories. In this one Jesus simply took her hand and said, ‘Little girl get up.’ (Luke chapter 5 verses 41 to 42). She did get up. Then Jesus said: ‘Give her something to eat.’ I like that so much – kids who have been sick need a feed and Jesus knew that.

Jesus, on another occasion, spoke a prayer for all the people to hear. This was to show that He had God’s power within Him.

This happened at the tomb of Lazarus. Before calling Lazarus back from the dead. The Bible says: ‘After the stone had been rolled aside (from the tomb), Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, “Father, I thank you for answering my prayer. I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so that the people here would believe that you sent me.” When Jesus had finished praying, He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face. Jesus then told the people, “Untie him and let him go.’’’ That story is in John chapter 11.

Many people who saw what Jesus did believed in Him after that…but Jesus’ enemies wanted Him arrested and silenced.

Not quite sure just what you mean but the environment sure is/was beautiful. I wrote ‘was’ because chainsaws have ruined too much of what was once so beautiful. Having no chainsaws would have left a lot of trees standing and slowed down the felling of a lot beautiful trees, because an axe is just very hard work. The environment sure is dangerous. AND, going to the top of Mount Everest has a 25% death rate. Yes! Quite a few die coming down, and the living ones cannot possibly help in any way to bring the body down. Phew! Awful decision!

Humans love to see new wonders and beautiful unspoilt places and things but the natives there know all the dangers that lurk there, and they respect those dangers. White folk often do not see dangers and can suffer the consequences. The USA President, Barak Obama was recently in Darwin, a town in the north of Australia. The ‘Aussies’ there (they love to laugh) gave him a very special personal insurance policy – just in case he was attacked/bitten by one of the local crocodiles. The President thought it a was great gift and good joke.

Now and then, mostly young crocodiles, are found roaming the suburbs or even in home swimming pools in Darwin. Crocodiles lived there before humans – we came into their territory – so we must learn to be careful of them at all times.

Antarctica: It’s very, very cold down there but people want to go and explore it all, and find, and get to the South Pole. Quite a few have died but many love the place where a little mistake or a minor accident can quickly kill you, or freeze you to death.

There are snakes, spiders, ants, scorpions, and bugs of all sorts live in our environment and they have their part to play in the environment (snakes and owls love to eat rats and mice). We oh-so–smart-humans really only know a little about them. A butcher told me that flies play an important role in cleaning up the environment. What?! Yes they do. After the lions, wild dogs, vultures, crows and ants have had their share of a dead animal, flies clean up the bones and no disease can develop. Cool eh? Earthworms and bugs by the million – seen and unseen, turn dead leaves and other organic ‘stuff’ on the ground into humus – that’s plant food –and when they get driven out, or die because of our mucking around with the soil, the soil is never as good as it was before. All the chemical fertilizers cannot do the same job in growing yummy tasting peaches, apricots, bananas, and mangoes, etc.

I like this question because I would like Jesus to come down – now! That would be the ‘Second Coming’ that Jesus talked about a lot. The end of ’The Age’ He called it, and that would bring in the new world that God has planned, and the end of evil in all its forms. Hooray!

The Jews had to wait 500 years for the prophecy of Isaiah to be fulfilled. And about the same time the for prophecy about the birth of Jesus by Micah that Bethlehem would be His birthplace. God counts a day as a thousand years and a thousand years as but a day.

God is very patient and just maybe Jesus meant it when He was talking to His disciples who had asked Him about His return, ‘The Second Coming,’ and the end of the age. Jesus said: ‘Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.’ (Matthew chapter 24 verses 12 to 14).

That is pretty specific, and whatever Jesus says will come, will come. No doubt about it. There is much more in Matthew chapter 24 that is quite scary as to coming troubles. Read it and be wise and prepared. This ‘Answerer’ of questions thinks some parts have begun to show up in the last few years. There could soon be wars over clean water – I kid you not.

Earthquakes, troubles, climate change, plus troubles of all sorts with a population of 7,000,000,000 today, and it could be 10,000,000,000 within 40 or more years. So I say to you, read Matthew chapter 24 and try to know the worst signs like the moon not giving its light and the gospel being preached to the whole world. Many nations refuse to allow Christians telling about Jesus, they actually kill some of them and many who convert to Christianity are killed.

Knowledge makes you wise and prepared, so be wise and not foolish.

Sure can…just ask Him to and he will in a most amazing way.

God does and always will help people. He is always there and ready to help. You can get help – but it’s not like in a supermarket where you get what you want, when you want it. It is a lifetime learning experience, quite often filled with wonder at God’s goodness, but also filled with doubts, yes doubts: ’I wonder what God is doing now?’ thinking even, ‘God has forgotten me,’ and ’I feel lost and alone.’ King David was much loved by God had all three of those feelings with a good many ‘highs’ and a very large number of ‘lows’ throughout his long life.

As a teenager, David became famous for his simple boyhood trust in God. He told the giant Goliath: ‘You come with a sword and spear – I come with God’s help and I’ll kill you’. He ran towards the giant Goliath who was three metres tall, and David slung a stone from his slingshot that struck Goliath on the forehead and killed him. The Bible says: of that stone: ‘It hit him in the forehead and broke his skull and Goliath fell face downward on the ground.’ David ran up and used Goliath’s sword to remove his head. Great story. See First Samuel chapters 16 and 17.

Everyone soon loved and admired David, but not the king, no sir! King Saul secretly hated David and tried to kill him on several occasions. David was on the run from the king for several years because King Saul was jealous of him – and Saul knew very well that God was angry with him because he had disobeyed God, and that David was to be the future king.

King Saul’s foolishness is all in First Samuel chapters 17 to 31. Saul suicided in a battle at the end.

Being in God’s family and having ‘God help you’ is not ‘all honey with no bees,’ or ‘all roses and no thorns.’ The ‘thorns’ and ‘bees’ teach us that life is not all good times and trusting God is hard sometimes.

You are in the same ‘boat’ as the 12 Disciples. These guys knew a lot about Jesus but all of them ran away when Jesus was tried by Pilate, crucified, buried in a tomb and rose to life on the third day.

In John chapter 14 Jesus tried to tell his disciples that He was ‘going away’ and they would no longer see Him. They just could not understand what He meant. A bit like a lifelong friend saying: ‘I must go overseas and see you no more.’ What on earth did he mean? Get an older trusted Christian to explain to you what Jesus meant by ‘another helper, the Holy Spirit,’ in John chapters 14 and 15. Not easy for kids to understand.

Later, the disciples came to realise that Jesus was truly God’s son and Jesus promised them help from the Holy Spirit – not God as we think of Him. When ‘John the Baptist’ baptised Jesus, the Bible says: ‘As soon as Jesus was baptised, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and landing on him. Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear son, with whom I am pleased.”’ (Matthew chapter 3 verses 16 to17). Much is explained there: God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is here, sort of representing God and Jesus on earth.

To get help just tell God that you know He is there, and that you want His help in your life and be a part of his family. Get to read your Bible too and a ‘Bible help’ book. Many are available free. Here is a website for one in Australia: www.word4u2day.com.au or Email: admin@word4u2day.com.au. My granddaughter gave me that name and she loves the book that’s posted to you, free, to help you with the Bible each day. Several others put out good Bible helps for kids, mostly free. Scripture Union are very good too.

Well done to think on this and ask about it. Only Moses had the honour of having God speak with him ‘face to face’. That’s very rare! The Bible says: ‘No one can see God and live.’

In Numbers chapter 12 God spoke from the ‘cloud’ and said to Aaron and Miriam: ‘Even with a prophet, I would communicate by visions and dreams; but that is not how I communicate with my servant Moses. He is completely at home in my house! With him I speak face to face.’ (Numbers chapter 12 verses 6 to 8)

This is before we got a Bible: Moses was to instruct the people of Israel in God’s laws, and later write down all that God wanted us to know.

To see God is indeed a frightening thing that not many have done. Isaiah, one of God’s great prophets, did see God. I’m not sure if it was a vision, or a dream, or that he did actually see God. Isaiah ‘saw’ God in the Temple and his ‘train’ filled the Temple. Isaiah wrote: ‘The year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord! He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the Temple was filled with his glory. Hovering about Him were mighty, six winged seraphs (flying angels). With two of their wings they covered their faces; with two others they covered their feet, and with two they flew. In a great antiphonal* chorus they sang, “Holy, holy ,holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is filled with His glory.”’ Such singing it was! It shook the Temple to its foundations and suddenly the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke. Then I said: ‘My doom is sealed, for I am a foul-mouthed sinner, a member of a sinful foul-mouthed race; and I have looked upon the King, the Lord of heaven’s armies.’ (Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 to 5).

*Antiphonal means two or more choirs singing different parts, but together, to make a great sound, Try Handel’s ‘Halleluiah chorus’ from ‘The Messiah’. It was so ‘Grand’ that the King of England stood up when he first heard it, out of respect and reverence for God. For a Christian, it makes the hair on the back of the neck stand up. Grand ‘stuff’ indeed. Heavenly music! That piece of music, from the Messiah; ‘The Halleluiah Chorus’ is used sometimes on advertisements on radio and maybe TV too. If somebody got a picture of God, it would soon be on drink bottles and breakfast cereals. Think of that! Oh YUK!!

Being in God’s presence is frightening stuff’, so imagine being there then, with Isaiah, a ‘foul mouthed sinner’ would be scary indeed. Maybe in the fear and wonder of seeing God, Isaiah immediately recalled all his sins. ‘…woe is me for I am a foul mouthed sinner!’ But God had a Seraph take a live, hot coal from the fire and, using tongs touched Isaiah’s lips with the hot coal saying: ‘Now you are pronounced, not guilty, because this coal has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven.’ (Isaiah chapter 6 verses 6 to7) God is a forgiving God and used Isaiah to write one of the great and profound prophecies, with much in it about Jesus in the Bible. N.B.: No other ‘religious’ book tells the future, only the Bible, and it’s never wrong.

So, to the answer: We are not meant, or allowed, to see God. He is not a person, a statue, or a carved image. You will stand before Him after you die and then you’ll see Him in all his glory and majesty. Me, I look forward to that!