Well let’s get one thing straight, you shouldn’t listen to me. I’m just a man just like you are. Or maybe you’re a woman. But either way you’re just like me. You have a thing between your ears that allows you to understand information and then make a decision based upon that information. The decision that you make is predicated on the information you receive. Partial or bad information can cause bad decisions. When it comes to where you spend eternity that can be a bad thing. Which is why I’m here.
I’ve been a Christian for a long time now and MAN have I been through A LOT. My life was pretty easy before I was a Christian and I thought that now that I’m a Christian everyone probably gets along and nobody sins or does anything bad. HA! Man was I wrong. Were still people and our nature doesn’t change just because we believe something different or even if we try to act different. But after all I’ve been though I’m still here, fighting the good fight. And I have learned a lot about the Lord and hopefully you can learn from it. Like He can be funny. I never thought that, but He’s got a great sense of humor. Either that or I’m crazy, which is still up for debate. : )
If there is one secret to the Bible it this, if you think it’s telling you to do something, DO IT. But all things in moderation. I never parrot information. These are all original ideas believe it or not. I’ve never been to seminary, or Bible college, I was never taught by anyone. Anyone but God I like to think. Although I have had many people I learned from over the years. I quote the Bible a lot, and most of what I learned came from doing word searches, which I will share on this site.
Anyway we need information to make an informed decision. This is one of the many AWESOME things about God is that there is no secret knowledge needed to understand him. NONE. ZERO. ZIP. NADA. Jesus even said this:
Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world… and in secret have I said nothing. John 18:20 (KJV 1900)
Why is this so AWESOME? Because it means all you have to do is read the Bible and you have the same information anyone else in the entire world has. You have the same information as your buddy that’s been a christian his whole life, the same as your pastor, your father, mother, husband; believe it or not even the Pope doesn’t know any more than you do. Why? Because what God wants from us is simple, and He want’s us to be able to understand it, if we really want to.
This means that if you see something in the Bible that doesn’t make sense you can figure it out on your own, sometimes with a little help. And often with a lot of prayer. And if your pastor disagrees with you, he might be wrong! Now don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for all things and as Christians we are to be meek and humble and esteem everyone as better than ourselves. BUT we are also supposed to be lead by the holy spirit and by the voice of our Shepard Jesus Christ.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:27 (KJV 1900)
And that’s exactly what we need to do. If He is telling you something, you are supposed to follow him! But then why are there so many HUGE churches that think the Bible isn’t enough? So many people think they have a special book or special knowledge from some guy they met on tiktok that had a friend that had a dream that knows the truth. Or there’s the Mormons who have the Book of Mormon which they say is more accurate then the Bible, and the Jews have the Talmud which they say is needed to correctly understand how to interpret the Bible, and then they have other books that are a whole nother story.
And that’s not all. The Adventists have Ellen White with thousands upon thousands of pages of writings and the Catholics have the Catechism and then every church has it’s own traditions and their own pastors or founders and don’t get me started on the Books of Enoch and Jubilees. It just can get very complicated very quickly, and it doesn’t need to because the Bible can guide us.
I quote the Bible a lot. Because I’m trying to show you why I say what I say. Like for example if I said that Jesus is the word of God, you shouldn’t take my word for it. You should say Nick, where does the Bible say that? Glad you asked.
Let’s start in revelation:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war… And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God… And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:11–16 (KJV 1900)
First we see that a man is sitting on a white horse who is called Faithful and True, but his name is The Word of God, and he had a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It literally says that this one person has these two names. I didn’t say it that what the scripture says. Great now this is pretty obvious that this is Jesus, but just to make it SUPER CLEAR how I think the Bible works:
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Revelation 17:14 (KJV 1900)
Now it literally says “the Lamb…is Lord of lords, and King of kings.” So now we see the bible described a man on a horse whose name was The Word of God AND had a name on his clothes King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in Revelation 17 it says that the Lamb IS king of kings and Lord of Lords. So we know that the Word of God is the Lamb and we know the King of Kings is the Lamb. Then we go to John:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29 (KJV 1900)
Now we see that Jesus IS called the Lamb of God. So we can then know that Jesus IS the King of Kings AND also the Word of God. This is how the Bible defines itself. And the cool thing is that is exactly what the Bible says about itself:
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; Line upon line, line upon line; Here a little, and there a little: Isaiah 28:10 (KJV 1900)
And then it gives supporting verses like this one in Timothy:
Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. 1 Timothy 6:13–16 (KJV 1900)
Now here it says Jesus will show who is the King of kings, it doesn’t say that he is, but it is more than hinting at it. You may think this is splitting hairs but you can’t read between the lines with the Bible.
The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29 (KJV 1900)
When I first became a Christian I was very excited to learn what God wanted me to do. I was in my late twenties and had just discovered the Bible and wanted to know everything that it said. There is much to learn and the Bible has a lot of interesting content. But I quickly learned that there are many different ideas and interpretations of those sixty six books.
I am not here to teach as much as I am here to show what I have learned in my many years of study since then, and implore you to read for yourself and make your own choice about what you think the Bible says. For life is but a series of choices.
Just think about on the last day when you stand before God and he asks you why you did or didn’t do something; would you rather tell him, well some guy on the internet said that’s what the Bible meant so that’s why I did that. Or would you rather say, well I studied all the scriptures and that’s the conclusion that I came to. I know I would much rather the latter, and I think the Bible backs this up:
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: But the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 (KJV 1900)
The simple believeth every word: But the prudent man looketh well to his going. Proverbs 14:15 (KJV 1900)