God Running

No One Has Ever Seen God (So what can we really know about Him anyway?) John 6:46-51

Boy_watching_with_binoculars by USFW - public domain

No One Has Ever Seen God (So What’s The Point?)

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:12)

This verse is so good. It reminds us of the greatness of God and how we can never really understand God. He’s just too big. No one can really know everything about Him because, well, as the scripture says, “no one has ever seen God.”

It also reminds us of Jesus’ command for us to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to love our neighbor as ourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

But right now I want to talk about the first part, the part that says, “No one has ever seen God.”

He Spoke As Though He Knew For Certain About Something No One Can Really Know Read More

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Posted on July 30, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, John

1 John 4:12, has anyone ever seen God, How can I know God, how can I possible know God, Is Jesus God, John 6:46-51, no one has ever seen God

People I Know Who Most Resemble Jesus: Hold Lightly

People like Jesus hold expectations lightly

I’ve noticed the people I know who most resemble Jesus, hold on to their expectations ever so lightly.

[Image by Matt Reinbold via Wikimedia – Labeled for reuse on Google Images. Text added from GodRunning.com.]

Am I Going To Heaven? (John 6:44-45)

Orroroo,_Magnetic_Hill-Wikimedia Commons.JPG

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me…” (John 6:44-45)

No one can come unless they’re drawn.

Jesus said to the crowd, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

Youngs Literal Translation says it this way, “no one is able to come unto me, if the Father who sent me may not draw him…” (John 6:44-45 YLT)

For centuries now, Christians have debated the meaning of verses like this one. God’s sovereignty vs. our free will. Calvinism vs. Arminianism. John Calvin’s theology vs. Jacobus Arminius’s theology. And then there’s a huge number of Christians who hold views that are mixtures of the two. I’m not going to attempt to resolve a debate that began almost five hundred years ago and continues today.

But I will speak to anyone who reads this verse and worries that they may be a person who hasn’t been drawn to Jesus by God the Father.

Am I Drawn? Am I Saved? Read More

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Posted on July 23, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, John

Am I going to heaven, am I saved, Calvinism Arminianism, Christian, eternal security, Jesus, John 6:44

The Surest Way To Work Up A Crusade

“The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior ‘righteous indignation’–this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats.”

–Aldous Huxley

“for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:20

You might also like: The Article About Anger That Might Make You Angry

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Posted on July 20, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, Suffering

cancel culture, Christian, George Floyd, Huxley quote

The Line Dividing Good And Evil

“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

–Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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Posted on July 19, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study

Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge shooter, black lives matter, blue lives matter, Christian, Jesus, Sermon on the mount, sin, Solzhenitsyn

The Consequences Of Ignoring Jesus: God’s Way, Your Way, And Your Crushed Spirit

(From the archives, an article that’s been trending lately: The Consequences of Ignoring God)

Guilt, Fear, And A Crushed Spirit

Continuing our series on suffering, today we’ll look at how ignoring God can crush your spirit.

Proverbs 28:1 says,

The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

Why is that do you think? Why do the wicked flee when no one is pursuing?

The proverb is a reference to Read More

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Posted on July 16, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, Suffering

Christian, Christian depression, Fear, guilt, how do I accept Jesus, overcoming fear, overcoming guilt, why am I afraid

This Is Where You Want To Be In Life

Tolentino_Basilica_di_San_Nicola_Cappellone_14 via Wiki-labeled for reuse on Google Images

This is where you want to be in life: The place where you love Jesus so much, you live to do his will, to bless him, to please him.

Image via Wikipedia-labeled for reuse on Google Images, Italian, early 14th century

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Posted on July 15, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

Christ follower, Christian, discipleship, discipleship training, how to follow Jesus, Jesus, love God with all your heart

What God Wants (And what He doesn’t want)

Gathering_of_the_Manna c 1460-1470 via Wiki-Public Domain

The Gathering of the Manna c. 1460

Read John 6:28-43.

Last post from the book of John we saw how Jesus called out the crowd. He told them the reason they went to the trouble to find him was because he fed them, when he multiplied the loaves and the fish. Then he instructed them to work “for food that endures to eternal life,.which the Son of Man will give you.”

This prompted the people to ask, “What is it we should do, to do the works of God?”

Jesus responded, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent.” (If you’re interested you can read the last post here: Is Believing In Jesus All That’s Required? (Because after all, Jesus gave us commands)–John 6:22-40

The Cynical Seeking A Sign

After Jesus says the work of God is to “believe in him whom he sent,” the crowd is cynical toward Jesus. And they say: Read More

Does God Want Me To Be A Patriot? Thoughts On Independence Day

Independence Day

It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, at the time of this writing, on the 4th of July, Independence Day. And I’m thinking about patriotism. I wonder about it sometimes, patriotism, because sometimes it can lead to decisions that hurt another human being simply because someone isn’t from our own particular country. So I get that there are problems with patriotism. Those problems make me wonder what God wants from us. They make me wonder if he wants me, and you, to be patriotic.

What Does The Bible Say? Read More

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Posted on July 5, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

4th of July, fourth of july, Independence Day, Joseph and patriotism, patriotism, should a christian be patriotic

Is Believing In Jesus All That’s Required? (Because after all, Jesus gave us commands)–John 6:22-40

Marriage via pixabay - Public Domain

We left off in our study of the book of John with Jesus allowing his disciples to be battered about by a storm. There may have been a good reason for that. If you’re interested you can read the last post from the Gospel of John here: What It Takes To Be Glad About Jesus: John 6:16-21.

The Work Of God

The morning after the storm, what the crowd saw was that Jesus sent his disciples over to the other side of the sea of Galilee in a boat, and then he himself hiked up a mountain to pray. What they didn’t see was Read More

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Posted on July 2, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, John

cheap grace, faith works, grace, If you love me you will keep my commandments, Jesus' commands, John 14:15, John 6:22-29, legalism, the work of God believe in him whom he sent

Things I Heard In Church: “I had picked my wheelchair. It was bright, like my shoes.”

Wheelchair and stairs “For nine months I was in bed without moving, at all, just my head. And every single doctor told me, I would never walk again, ever. I had picked my wheelchair. It was bright, like my shoes. I had decided I was going to go to Special Olympics… with that wheelchair because it had the [kind of] wheels for that. I was literally rooted to my bed, and I could not move, and everybody told me that I would never move again. And then one day, while reading the scriptures for only the first or second time… I came across this passage: Luke 17:5-6”

From Gaby Viesca’s excellent teaching on 06/26/2016, Growing Together, Luke 17:1-6

Image via Christos Doulkeridis – Creative Commons

The Article About Anger That Might Make You Angry

Cain and Abel by Josep Vergara, 18th Century

The Article About Anger That Might Make You Angry

I have to confess, I was reluctant to write and publish this article about anger, because I’m concerned it will make people angry. But maybe in spite of my better judgment . . .

Jesus Nerd

If you follow my Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ accounts you know I put up scripture on these almost every day. More than one person has criticized me for it, but what can I say — I’m a Jesus nerd. I’m completely fascinated by this ancient Jewish Rabbi, so much so that I just can’t help myself. I want to learn all that I can about him, and I want to share him with others. Anyway, recently, on Facebook, I posted the words from Jesus, “. . . I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:22) And a friend of mine, Danny, asked in the comment section, “What do you think is meant by ‘brother’?” Read More

8 Comments

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, Marriage, Suffering

anger, anger bible, anger bible study, anger management, anger sin, Christian, Jesus, what does the Bible say about anger

God Running

There is only one place in the Bible where we see God running.

No One Has Ever Seen God (So what can we really know about Him anyway?) John 6:46-51

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People I Know Who Most Resemble Jesus: Hold Lightly

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Am I Going To Heaven? (John 6:44-45)

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The Surest Way To Work Up A Crusade

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The Line Dividing Good And Evil

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The Consequences Of Ignoring Jesus: God’s Way, Your Way, And Your Crushed Spirit

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This Is Where You Want To Be In Life

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What God Wants (And what He doesn’t want)

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Does God Want Me To Be A Patriot? Thoughts On Independence Day

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Is Believing In Jesus All That’s Required? (Because after all, Jesus gave us commands)–John 6:22-40

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Things I Heard In Church: “I had picked my wheelchair. It was bright, like my shoes.”

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The Article About Anger That Might Make You Angry

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There is only one place in the Bible where we see God running.

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