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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Hardened Hearts Won't Understand

Mark 6:52 (ESV)
52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.


I am amazed at evolutionist. They know that no species has ever produced a different species of animal. They have no observable evidence yet tell us that this is exactly what happened to produce all the species we have today. Then, many of these scientist say that Jesus could not have fed so many people with so little as the Bible says or walked on water because no one can reproduce those events today. No one living has ever witnessed such an event. Therefore, it couldn't have happened. Do they ever listen to themselves?

The Disciples had witnessed the feeding of the 5000. They knew the truth behind the story but were amazed that Jesus could walk on water. Why is walking on water a bigger miracle than feed 5000 with five loaves and two fish? Doesn't the definition of a miracle preclude the limits that humanity can put upon it? A miracle is an act of God which defies the laws of physics or biology or any of the other sciences. The hardness of their hearts came because they didn't understand Jesus as the God of creation as He created more food from the little that He had.

Yet, physicists deny who God is in creation. They say that the universe was created from a compact singularity which exploded to become all that exists. That's funny when you think of it. The whole universe would fit on the point of a pin but expanded to be billions of light years across. Jesus took five loaves and two fish and fed more than 5000 people. Isn't believing the scientist point of view much larger than Jesus' own creation of more fish and loaves? Why do we swallow the one and reject the other?

Sometimes people just don't connect the dots. They see a miracle in one area and think God can't do anything else. He heals one person but can't miraculously provide or protect another person. The heart must be changed in order to understand. Their heart condition affects their spiritual eyesight.

It takes new eyes to see that the laws of the universe can be suspended by God to accomplish His will. That understanding is the basis for prayer. It is the basis for salvation. It is the basis for living a life which defies the conventional wisdom of this world.

Yet, I see people who are refusing to believe in a God who can change the laws of the universe. Their faith is limited to what they can see. Unfortunately, they have hearts which won't see. They can't understand until their hearts are open to the true miracles of God.

How do they become Christians if they don't believe in the resurrection? How do they explain the change that happens when someone identifies with Christ for their salvation? Why should they pray if they don't believe God can do anything beyond the laws of the universe? Wouldn't they be better off working within those laws than wasting their time in prayer?

I think many of them want to believe but don't because they are in a world that doesn't believe. They want to fit into this world. They don't want to be weirdos. They want acceptance. This world hardens hearts. It limits eyesight.

2 comments:

high.expressions (Anthony Chia) said...

My understanding of the finches subject of Charles Darwin from which all of these evolutionary hypothesis and theories “evolve” from, are different species of the same kind. The kind is finch, and there were many different featured (eg. different beak shapes or sizes) finches, but they were still finches.

Human being or man, is a kind. And so, although Ps Prentis and I share many common features, we do have different features, for I am a Chinese man and he is “ang mo” man, but we are both man, NOT monkeys. Monkey is another kind.

On the Galapagos islands, there were tortoises, iguanas, even mocking birds, apart from the species of the finches. In fact, each island was dominated by particular finch(es), but there were of course, “cross-living”, just like, we do find “ang mo” men in Singapore, and Ps Prentis could find Chinese men in his state. But there was no such thing as (NOT even hypothesis of it, then) iguanas were evolved from the tortoises or the other way round, or that any of birds of air, somehow were evolved from the land kinds. There was not even the hypothesis, then, of the finches could have evolved from the mocking birds or the vice versa. So much for evolution of Man from monkey!

As to miracles, first of all, we can say the same thing, too, that no one has duplicated the evolution of a monkey into a man, either! Bible has account of oil that did NOT run out (until all the containers were used up); I have heard of testimony of little food or petrol that did NOT run out too (until certain event happens, like when additional provision has arrived). It is NOT uncommon to hear of testimony of cars running on almost empty tank driven by believers, could still move for many tens of kilometres until a petrol source is reached. Well, I have seen legs grew just by my prayer to the Lord for it to grow! Can one explain how it can be humanly possible! If such miracles still happen today, why is it NOT possible, in the days of Jesus walking the earth, that those miracles recorded in the Word, did happen?

All of these “gravity defying” scenarios are possible because there is a Creator God. God is the creator of all of the universe, and as the Creator, He could modify and change things around, for, as the El Shaddai, the all powerful, He has the power and means to accomplish anything and everything. Scripture recorded for us, that He could simply speak things, including living things, into being. Well, if there had been one initial “Big Bang”, why is it NOT possible that, that initial big bang was work of God, the Creator.

I am NOT saying we are gods, but we are creators after God, though of a lesser degree. A simple illustration or metaphor is this:

Imagine there is a cichlid fish (a very common and “hardy” fish) in a large aquarium. When it first came into the tank, it saw there were some other fishes it had NOT seen before. Every day it would find food in the tank (dropped in by the owner - you), and it would eat it, like we eat vegetables from the plants of the earth. It also find that it needed to carve out a territory for itself (cichlids are very territorial), and would fight for its space and food. Occasionally, it would find worms in the tank (again, dropped in by you), and it would eat them, too, like we eat meat from animals of the earth.

cont...

high.expressions (Anthony Chia) said...

cont. from above

It would, at times, fight with other fishes, and even managed to kill some of them. But typically, it does NOT eat up the entire carcass, but would devour the eyes of the dead fish(!), leaving the carcass to pollute the water. And so, from time to time, it finds the water in which it lives becomes refreshed (water-change by you), and its enclave got “wrecked” (by you, when you were changing the water and cleaning the tank). Occasionally, it could see this peculiar but powerful thing moving about in the tank; that is your hand! And then, it found new plants appeared; and new fishes, too, and even some others, of its kind, cichlids. And some of the cichlids looked every different but they were of the same kind, cichlids. By the way, there are over 1,400 species of cichlids in the world. And “bless its soul”, it found one cichlid it likes, and mate up with her. It brings her into his enclave, and jointly, they beautify their home (Cichlids would pick up tiny objects with their mouths, and then spew them out at specific area or target).

Did the cichlid create the entire environment that he has found himself to be in? No, he, being in the environment, explored it, and then carved out a place he called his own. You are the creator of its environment, just like God created the entire environment that we are in.

Did the environment of cichlid remained constant? Not really. Did it, the cichlid contribute to the instability of the environment? Yes, it did, with its own discharge (its own shit, high in certain chemicals which when reached certain level would be harmful to the fishes themselves), and with its other activities, like killing and leaving carcasses in the water. Who was monitoring the going-on in the environment of the cichlid? You - as the creator and owner of the aquarium.

Then, does NOT the cichlid find new lives, it cannot account for? What do you think should go through the “head” of the fish? “Some “God” created the universe, all that there is, here, including lives. He has given me a mate, too, and now I, too can produce my own kind. How great is this “God”, that He could defy gravity, so to speak, miraculously have the water refreshed, for example!” Who is this “God”? You!

See, to the cichlid, things were bigger than life, so to speak, but as suggested in the preceding para., it has the heart {or mind of its soul} to know there is a “God” (you!). There were miracles it could NOT explain. Do you have your heart so hardened you can perceive no longer, there is a God? Is your heart so hardened that you would NOT give Him, the honour and glory due Him? Romans 1:20-21 put it this way:

20 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. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Is there no way out for the ones hardened of heart? The posture of God can be cleaned from these words of Jer 29:12-14:

12'… call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 … seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore …

Today, begin to call upon the God of the universe.
Today, pray to Him. He will listen to you.
Today, seek Him with all your heart.
He will allow Himself to be found by you. And He will restore you.
He will change your heart of stone to the heart of flesh.
He will cause the scales on your eyes to fall off.
He will allow you to know Him.

Anthony Chia, high.expressions