Your Life’s Purpose

04/12/2023

17/02/2021

| 🆘📖 DOES GOD HEAL PEOPLE TODAY AS HE DID IN BIBLE TIMES?

Jesus was not just interested in teaching; He also spent a significant part of His ministry making blind eyes see, opening deaf ears, removing fevers, and even raising people from the dead. Christ cared about the physical bodies of the people to whom He ministered.

When Christ sent out His 12 disciples, the Bible says, “When He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease” (Matthew 10:1). The ministry of healing others was not intended only for Bible times, but for all ages.

In the early church, James, the brother of Jesus, gave us instructions on special prayer for those who are sick. “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:14, 15).

There are a couple guidelines to keep in mind when we pray for the sick. First, this verse suggests that a person who asks for this anointing should search their hearts and confess all known sins. Second, when we pray for healing, we should also follow Jesus’ example of stating, “Your will be done” (Luke 11:2; 22:42).
Sometimes people are laid to rest in the grave; it does not necessarily indicate a lack of faith. (Think of what happened to John the Baptist.) Yet a person can sincerely know that someday, at the resurrection, God will certainly “raise” them up.

Finally, we should be cautious about so-called “faith healers.” There have been many examples of bogus healings where people were set up to “pretend” to be ill by a religious leader, and then later acted as if they were healed. Even Satan can delude people with healing tricks (Revelation 16:14).

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Matthew 4:23

10/02/2021

| 🐌🌳 WHERE WAS THE GARDEN OF EDEN LOCATED? 😲

I believe that before the flood came on the earth, everyone knew where this garden was located—as an angel was sent to guard the gates to Adam’s and Eve’s first home. Scripture mentions a river that came out of Eden: “Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads” (Genesis 2:10). The four rivers mentioned are Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel (Tigris), and Euphrates. Keeping in mind that the world’s geography was greatly altered by the flood, this area corresponds today with the country of Iraq.

I like to believe the Lord raptured this garden from this world to preserve it from the flood. If God can bring the New Jerusalem down from heaven after the millennium, He could have taken the garden up to heaven to save it (Revelation 21:2). A little anecdotal evidence for this can be found in Revelation 22:2, which speaks of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem. Since this tree was once in the garden, God might have saved the entire area and will restore it in the earth made new.

As mentioned, after the flood, the earth was radically changed. Perhaps the patriarchs had an approximate idea of where these rivers were now located by astronomy. Or it could be that the two rivers that Noah came upon after the flood reminded him of two rivers he knew before the world changed. Two of the rivers are actually missing, so you are not going to go wandering around and suddenly stumble on the garden.

Did you know that to make lots of oil and coal, it takes a tremendous amount of vegetation to be covered deep underground? Geologists today recognize that though the Middle East, rich with oil, seems largely dry and barren today, it was not always that way.

Finally, in Revelation 22:1, John sees “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God” (Revelation 22:1). That’s a river I’d like to stand next to someday!

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
"And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed." Genesis 2:8