Who hasn’t seen the movie Star Wars and not wanted to be a Jedi?
What kid hasn’t dreamt of being a superhero? Personally, and that’s showing my age, I am and always will be partial to Superman. But there are so many superheroes; Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel (a very close second to Superman for me), all of the X-Men, Ant-Man, Luna Snow, Ironman… I feel like there are new superheroes every day…
Anyway, the premise of Star Wars is good versus evil; the Jedi against the Sith. Each movie explores this along with destiny, family, redemption and rebellion. All these aspects are found in the Bible!
Our God is a living God.
God never changes. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Malachi 3:6 says, For I the Lord do not change.
The Bible is approximately 1200 pages of God’s living truth. Word that is living, active and never changing.
Does God exist? Are you unsure?
When is the last time you stood and looked at the sunset? The sunrise?
Went to the ocean and sat quietly listening to the waves?
Have you walked in a garden teaming with budding flowers, trees, birds and butterflies?
Been amongst animals, big and small?
Seen how mere birds tend to their young?
Have you seen how majestic giraffes and elephants are?
Romans 1:20 says, For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
If you’ve looked around the world and still don’t believe but you’re curious, ask God to reveal Himself to you. If you ask Him in earnest, He will reveal Himself to you, because he is a living God; He is unchanging. He is the creator of all and He wants a relationship with his creation, with you.
The Bible tells us that God delights in humans, as flawed and puny as we are. That’s why He created us. The Bible says that humans were created in God’s image; a perfect design to be His temples (more about this later)! (Proverbs 8:30-31, Genesis 1:26-27, James 3:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19)
Let’s talk about some impossible things that God has done: Aside from the creation. (Genesis 1)
- God commanded Noah to build an Ark and sent him all the animals of the earth, two by two, to be saved from the flood! (Genesis 6-9)
- God parted the Red Sea so that His people could escape from the tyranny of the Egyptians. (Exodus 14)
- God sent His people manna (bread from heaven), and meat to eat while they wandered through the desert, out of Egypt. (Exodus 15-17)
- He led them by a cloud by day and by a pillar of fire by night. (Exodus 13:21)
- God made water flow out of a rock for His people when they were thirsty. (Exodus 17)
- God made the sun stand still until the battle was won at Gibeon. (Joshua 10)
- As we read recently, God sent fire to burn Elijah’s offering which was soaked through with water, to prove that He is God! (1 Kings 18)
- In Ezekiel, God granted said prophet with a vision about bringing dry bones to life (Ezekiel 37:1-14). This is symbolic of how God intended to restore his people (Israel) after they disobeyed him and were sent into exile to Babylon.
- God rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a fiery furnace. They were in the fire because of their faith! (Daniel 3)
- He saved Daniel from the lion’s den. He was also in there for his faith! (Daniel 6)
- He sent Jonah a great fish to keep him safe until he was ready to obey the Lord. (Jonah 1-2)
Do any of these stories sound familiar?
And that’s just in the Old Testament!
In the New Testament:
- God sent His one and only Son to die for our sins so that we could live again. So that we would be redeemed in the Father’s sight. (John 3:16)
- Then Jesus performed so many miracles in his three years of ministry with the disciples that many have said there wouldn’t be enough books to write them all down.
- He healed lepers, the blind, the mute, the lame. He healed a woman who had AUB (abnormal uterine bleeding). She bled for 12 years before she was healed. (Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48, and Matthew 9:20-22)
- Jesus raised people from the dead, the most famous of those being Lazarus. (John 11)
- He also raised Rabi Jairus’ daughter from the dead. (Mark 5:21-23)
- The apostles also healed many and raised people from the dead.
- A woman named Dorcas who had died a few days before Peter arrived in Joppa was raised from the dead. (Acts 9:36-42)
- God also sent angels to break Peter out of prison and in doing so, his jailer got saved! (Acts 12:1-17)
There are so many stories.
But what if you think that those are just stories in the Bible; tall tales if you will. There are modern day healings as well and stories of unexplained survival and return from death. Check out this story about this teacher’s near death experience and consequent healing.
Think about the list that we made of all the times that God showed up for us. Do you have enough faith to believe that God can do the impossible? You only need enough faith the size of a mustard seed… (Matthew 17:20)
Shannon Bream wrote this wonderful book called Nothing is Impossible with God. If you’re not quite ready to dive into the Bible but are interested in some of these stories, I would recommend this book. The stories of Noah, Jonah, Daniel, Elijah and Jesus are in there, among others. It’s a nice reminder of how amazing God’s love is for us and how much He loves us right where we are. He doesn’t wait until we’re enough, until we’re perfect or until we are willing to perform. He meets us right where we are and love us and transforms us from there.
I love to end with a song, so here’s one of my favorite songs called Egypt by Cory Asbury and Bethel Music.