All photos courtesy of Unsplash
How are you today? I appreciate you reading my blog. If you are a regular reader, you will know that this piece aims to get my readers to think about faith, God and the Bible. Serious stuff - but very important. So, grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy.
How is your vocabulary? I suppose most of us regularly come across new words or words we have not noticed before. Maybe, like me, the Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2023 was new to you - 'gaslighting'. Gaslighting is a tactic where you manipulate a person by planting seeds of uncertainty in their mind to gain power and control over them. The continual questions it creates make the person question reality. It's very insidious and harmful.
Although the term might be new, the concept has been about for a long time. There are always people who manipulate others for their advantage.
My question today is - have you been gaslighted about faith and God? For years, we have been told there is no God, science has done away with faith, the Bible is just a man-made book, there's nothing after life, there will be no ultimate day of reckoning, and justice will not eventually be meted out as there is nothing after this. How does that make you feel? Where does that leave you? Does it feel like reality?
It is in our DNA to expect justice. We are programmed to distinguish right from wrong? Don't be gaslighted into accepting anything less than the truth. We feel in our hearts that this life is not all there is. Our gut tells us that death is not the end, though we may prefer to believe otherwise (if there is no future after death, we get off scot-free for what we've done). The Bible claims that God has written eternity in our hearts, Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11. Scripture says quite plainly - 'it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,' Hebrews 9. 27,28.
The rest of this bible quotation says, 'so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time'.
This verse makes it clear that Christianity offers hope and certainty. These facts are presented to give you confidence and for your well-being. Christians believe that the Lord Jesus came to earth from heaven 'to bear the sins of many'. That means all who turn to God and trust His Son have forgiveness, peace and joy in believing. The price of salvation was paid for when 'Christ died for our sins' on the cross one thousand nine hundred and ninety years ago.
Just as Jesus came the first time in fulfilment of the ancient biblical predictions, He will come again (as there are equally as many specific predictions about a second coming).
I pray that instead of being gaslighted, you would be ignited with joy, peace and hope through the thrill of having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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