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Many people are tempted to doubt that the Bible is God's Word because they do not understand and cannot explain parts of the BGible. This is often true of those who have been Christians for only a short tie. Satan tries to shake their faith in the bible as God's message to us. These people ask, "How shall I know the right way? If the Bible is truly the Word of God, how can I become free of doubt?"

God always gives us facts and reasons before He asks us to believe. We know He lives because He is the Creator. He shows us His character by what He does for us. We know His Word is true because things have happened the way He said they would

God has given us His Word so that we can KNOW that He is faithful. We can read how He has treated others and we can KNOW that He will treat us the same.

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Yet God does not make it impossible for us to doubt. Our faith must rest on good reasons, not on absolute proof. Those who wish to doubt may do so. But people who really desire to know the truth will find good reasons to believe. They can rest their faith on the Word of God.

True love is based on trust. A child learns first to trust the parents, and that trust becomes love. We first learn to trust our God, and that trust becomes love.

Learning to trust can at times be a bit scary. Imagine a child whose parent says, "Just stay there. I am going outside for a moment, but I will be back." Firstly the child is fearful, but soon learns that when the parent says they will be back -- it happens. Our heavenly Parent allows us to be placed in situations that seem scary and that test His promise to be with us always. We learn through those experiences.

God always leaves room for us to decide whether or not He is trustworthy. After all, if everything in this world was on "automatic", with no training in trust, we would not be much better than robots -- plenty of action, but no brain!!

God bless,

Beryl

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It is impossible for our minds to understand fully the character or the works of God. Even the brightest, best educated people cannot fully understand such a Holy Being. He will always be a mystery. Job said, "Can you discover the limits and bounds of the greatness and power of God? The sky is no limit for God, but it lies beyond your reach. God knows the world of the dead, but you do not know it." (Job 11:7,8).

Put very simply -- GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING!! He is the source of all knowledge. When you really stop to think of it -- how wonderful it is that He calls US His sons and daughters! We sometimes have difficulty calling another member our brother or sister in Christ!

Paul refers to this closeness that Jesus has with the human family. "But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone... So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Being the only girl growing up in a family with 4 brothers, I know the advantages (and occasional disadvantages!) of brothers! I am also looking forward to the great resurrection day, and to see the joy on my parents' faces as an angel places in my mother's arms her firstborn -- a girl who only lived for 1 hour.

Family!! What a privilege! And there we will all be one great family of God. I want to see you there! Just think, an eternity with a wonderful Brother Who so loved us that He gave His life to save us! Now, THAT is a Brother worth having!

God bless,

Beryl

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The apostle Paul wrote, "How great are God's riches! How deep are His wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain His decisions? Who can understand His ways? As the Scripture says, "Who inows the end of the Lord? Who is able to give Him advice?" (Romans 11:33). Even though "clouds and darkness surround Him; He rules with righteousness and justice." (Psalm 97:2).

As we see how God deals with us and try to understand why He has led us the way He has, we can know that He is a God of love, mercy, and power. We can understand only as much of why He does some things as is good for us to know. We must trust His loving hands to lead us the rest of the way. His heart of love will do what is best for us.

We praise God for His wisdom and knowledge -- then, when something does not work out the way we think that it ought to work out -- we complain!! We feel that God has left us. We wonder if we had dome soething wrong. We lack the faith to accept that God is working for us ALL the time!

King David was a man who loved the Lord. David wrote so many Psalms of praise to God. But David, too, felt the times when somehow God was absent, but he learned to trust God in the darkness as well as the light. We need to learn that sae lesson.

God bless,

Beryl

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The Word of God, like the One Who gave it, can never be fully understood. We cannot fully explain the sad story of how sin came into the world. We are not able to understand how the Son of God became a man. Nor can we understand just how we are made righteous and how we will be raised from the dead. But we must not doubt God's Word because we cannot understand some things it tells us about.

In the natural world are many things we cannot explain. the wisest people cannot fully understand the smallest forms of life. Everywhere are wonders we do not understand.. Should we then be surprised to find things in the spiritual world that we cannot explain? Our minds are too weak and narrow to reach these higher thoughts. God has given us enough reasons to believe that the Scriptures are inspired.

How often, when faced with adversity, we ask "Why? why? why?" We just can't understand why God would lead us in this path. But, this is where our faith is tested! "We must trust His loving hands to lead us the rest of the way."

A child in a loving environment learns to trust a parent. Dad places the young child on a table and tells him to jump. Will the child take the risk? It looks a long way down, and the child senses danger. Then he looks at his dad. He knows that his dad loves him. His dad has proved that to him so many times. Would his dad let him down now? Suddenly he flings wide his arms and jumps -- straight into his dad's waiting arms!! That was faith! And his faith was rewarded.

God allows us to go through testing times -- not to see if we can "handle it" -- but, you might call it a "practice run".

Job was a man who believed in God and worshipped Him. God allowed Satan (within bounds) to test Job. Did God need to know whether Job would still love Him? No, God knew His man -- but Job didn't really know himself! It took heavy trials for Job to get to know more about the God he had loved and trusted. When God at last spoke, Job realised that, although he had trusted God, there was so much more about God that He didn't know. He confessed to God "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know...my ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

God was pleased with Job -- and God repaid His faithful servant with twice as much as he had before the trial. God doesn't always repay with goods and money -- but He sure is a generous giver! He will repay faithfulness with more than we can ever imagine.

That will be a wonderful, glorious day. I'll meet you There!

God bless,

Beryl

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Do you understand what Shakespeare wrote? Really? Shakespeare wrote in language that was fully understood in his day, but for us in our day, it must be interpreted into the language of the day. Even the time of writing makes a difference -- customs change, understanding changes, and it is the same with Bible times.

There are some things that never change -- God's unfailing love for fallen mankind, and the attempts of the devil to drag or allure us away from God. God has promised us His Holy Spirit to guide us in our study, and He will do just that if we will let Him.

Make the study of Scriptures a part of your every day.

God bless,

Beryl

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The Bible brings us truth that satisfies the needs and desires of every heart. This truth is given in such a simple and interesting way that it surprises and pleases the best minds. Yet it makes clear even to humble and uneducated people how they can be saved. These simply stated truths also touch on subjects that are too hard for us to understand. We accept them only because God spoke them.

Have you ever noticed how often it is that, when reading one of the familiar passages, suddenly you see something that you had not noticed before?

It seems to me that God does not immediately open to our minds the whole Scripture the first time that we read it. Instead He allows just some of the truths to enter our thinking, and as we allow those first thoughts to enter our minds and impact on our lives, God reveals to us just a little more of His great truth. In this way we are gradually brought into closer relationship with Him, and a greater understanding of His truth.

Do we ever come to fully understand the whole truth? I don't believe that we do! I believe that we continue to have a growing relationship with God and His Word, and we continue to learn, and God judges us, not on the entire truth, but what we have done about the truth that the Holy Spirit has revealed to us, individually.

God bless,

Beryl

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God's plan by which we are saved -- the plan of redemption -- is opened up to us in the Bible. We all may see the steps we must take in repentance toward God. We are shown the faith that we must have in our Lord Jesus Christ if we want to be saved.

Yet beneath these truths that are easily understood are mysteries that need much study. We must search the Scriptures to find answers. When we sincerely search for truth, we are rewarded with faith and love for God. The more we search the Bible, the more sure we are that it is the Word of the living God. We bow before the One who has shown us these truths.

God meets us where we are! Whatever stage in your Christian experience you are presently at, there is much in the Bible that you can understand, and much that just seems to pass by without us fully understanding the depth of truth contained therein.

When we continually make time for just reading the Bible, God will also take the time, through His Holy Spirit, to give to us the guidance that we need.

God bless,

Beryl

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We know that we do not fully understand all the truths of the Bible. Our minds cannot take hold of all the things understood by God's mind. Our weak, human minds cannot always understand the way God works.

Some people doubt God's Word because the meanings are not always clear to them. This is a real danger even to people who say they believe the Bible. The apostle says, "My friends, be careful that none of you have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you will turn away from the living God." (Hebrews 3:12)

I have just been reading through the Book of Ezekiel. Talk about a stubborn lot of people!! God was asking an obedient Ezekiel to act out the punishment that was about to befall the people if they did not repent and change their ways. God was just so-o-o-o-o-o patient with them, giving them opportunity after opportunity to do away with the idols and the dreadful practices of idolatary, but they refused to change. Fancy placing your firstborn child in the red-hot arms of a metal idol to "appease the god". Imagine the grief of the mother! I just cannot imagine it! She would have carried that child for 9 months knowing what was going to happen to it. She would not have been able to plan for all the things a "first-time mother" plans for her darling child. And yet -- the people chose to continue this abominal worship rather than turn to a God of love!!

This all happened because they doubted God's Word. How important it is that we establish our lives and our thinking on God's Word! Our God is a God of love.

Beryl

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It is right to study closely the teachings of the Bible. It is good to search "even the hidden depths of God's purposes" (1 Corinthians 2:10) as given in the Scriptures. "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but He has revealed His Law." (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Satan tries to get us to use our minds in the wrong way. When some people study the Bible, they feel they must be able to explain everything it says. They are proud, and they feel unhappy when they come to parts that are not clear to them. It humbles them to say that they do not understand all of God's Word. They are not willing to wait until God is ready to show the truth to them. They feel that their own understanding should be enough. When they cannot understand some parts, they say the Scriptures are not from God.

God does not us to be proud of our knowledge of the Bible, but to be humble about the little that we know. We are encouraged to study and increase our knowledge, because the more we do that, the more God can work on our hearts and prepare us for eternity. We sometimes think, "Won't it be wonderful to understand all of this when we get to Heaven," but I have a feeling that we will begin eternity with the knowledge that we have acquired here. There we will have clear minds, and the ability to absorb and retain what we learn, and we will all learn from one another, from the angelic hosts, and from Jesus Himself.

Will we ever reach the place where we have all knowledge? I don't believe that we will. The angelic hosts have done a lot of learning over the past 6000 years!! They now see Jesus in a different light to what they did at the time of Creation. Our learning here is just the beginning.

By the way, I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to having a brain that REMEMBERS WHAT I HAVE LEARNED!!!


God bless,

Beryl

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Many ideas that some people say come from the Bible are not found in it. These ideas are very different from the Bible teachings. They cause people to doubt God's Word. But we cannot blame the Bible. We should blame the wrong use of the Bible.

We do not fully understand God and His works. If we could, there would be no more truth to discover. There would be no further growth of the heart and mind. God would no longer be first and above all. Let us thank God that He is greater than we are.

God is infinite. "All the hidden treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge" are in Him (Colossians 2:3). In heaven people will be forever searching to learn how great is His goodness. They will be ever learning how wise and how powerful He is.

As a child, like most other children, I was always asking questions! Why? Because I wanted to KNOW something! As I grew I discovered that the more I knew the more I found that I did not know! And that is how we grow in knowledge. When I graduated from my chosen course, and took up my appointment, I found that now I had to learn again -- the best way to put my knowledge into practice. And do you know what? Although I have well passed the magical "three-score and ten", I still find that there is still so much to learn that I have only touched the surface! Yes, I am going to NEED the whole of eternity in order to have time to learn the things that I want to learn. AND there will be things to learn that I don't even know about now.

What about you?

I see that as one of the joys of heaven -- I will STILL be able to ask questions -- BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW! What a privilege! But do you know the very, very, very best part? I WILL REMEMBER WHAT I HAVE LEARNED!! Oh, what joy!

God bless,

Beryl

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Even in this life God wants to be opening the truth of His Word to His people. There is only one way we can receive these truths. We can understand God's Word only through the light that comes from His Spirit. "Only God's Spirit knows all about God." "The Spirit searches everything, even the hidden depths of God's purposes." (I Corinthians 2:11,10).

The Saviour's promise to His followers was "When...the Spirit comes, Who reveals the truth about God, He will lead you into all the truth...He will take what I say and tell it to you." (John 16:13,14).

For us to read the Bible without inviting the Holy Spirit to guide our minds is a bit like a student picking up a text book and feeling that he/she can understand it fully without the aid of a teacher. The student will learn quite a bit, but in order to get the most benefit from the book he/she needs to have a teacher who can explain the deeper meanings beyond the actual words.

I can read the words of Scripture, understand what they are saying, enter into a discussion about what that passage means -- but it is only when I invite the Holy Spirit into my heart and mind that I can be led to those deeper meanings -- what that passage is saying to me -- personally. It is then the the Spirit can convict me of changes that should be made in my life, and lead me into a closer walk with the One Who can, in fact, bring about those changes.

May God bless you in your reading of Scripture.

Beryl

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God wants us to use our reasoning powers. The study of the Bible will strengthen these powers and lift our minds as no other study can. Yet we must be careful not to make reason a god. For it can be as weak as the human mind or body.

We must have the simple faith of a little child who is ready to learn. We must ask for the help of the Holy Spirit. Then we will have a clearer understanding of the truths of the Bible.

As a child I can't remember ever questioning what my mother taught me, or what my teacher taught me, because I believed in them. I knew instinctively that they knew so much more than I knew. It was only as I grew much older that it dawned on me that neither my mother nor my teacher knew EVERYTHING! And they were even known to make mistakes! That is humanity.

The Holy Spirit is a teacher Who never makes a mistake. We can trust Him implicitly. Yet at times it can be hard when we have two voices, both trying to tell us something different.

How can we decide which one is right? We can ask for help in our decision. We can go back to the Scriptures and see what they say. We can pray for guidance. If we truly want the Holy Spirit to guide us -- He will.

God bless,

Beryl

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We are made humble when we realize how wise God is. His greatness and power are beyond our understanding. We should open His Word as though we were coming before God Himself. In Bible Stdy, reason must see a power greater than itself. Heart and mind must bow before the God who spoke of Himself as the great I AM.

Which do you do first -- read God's Word and then talk to the Author? or talk to the Author first and ask for His guidance?

We always need the guidance of the Holy Spirit when we open God's Word. God is the Author, and only the Holy Spirit can interpret God's Word for us.

Anyone can literally READ the Bible, but we need the Holy Spirit to take those words, and apply them to our hearts and lives. Then that will lead us to living the way God wants us to live. The Holy Spirit is the One who convicts us of sin in our lives. Often this happens when, with His guidance, we spend time with the Scriptures.

God bless

Beryl

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Many things at first seem hard to understand. But God will make them plain to us if we ask Him for understanding. The Holy Spirit will guide us and help us not to change the meaning of the Scriptures or to misunderstand them.

Sometimes when people read the Bible, it does not help them. It may even do them harm. Doubts come into the mind when the Word of God is studied without prayer. Our thoughts must be fixed on God when we open the Bible. We must be ready to follow His leading, for without God's help our minds may be clouded with doubt. Then Bible study could lead to unbelief.

Yes, it may seem strange that we could read the Bible and be lead astray! But that is a work at which Satan is a master! If we do not, before reading the Bible, ask God to direct our minds, we are leaving open the door for other thoughts to come in. We can see all of God's "DO NOTs" and fail to find the love behind His instruction. We can see the great sins that He appeared to completely overlook -- and fail to see the God of love who was pleading with their hearts and minds, and was giving them yet another chance before He brought destruction upon them.

God is waiting to spend that private time with you.

Beryl

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Satan guides the thoughts when people do not ask for God's help as they study the Bible. They may make mistakes in understanding the Scriptures no matter how well educated they may be. It is not safe to trust what they say the Word means unless they are obeying God.

Those are very powerful words! Never should the Bible be read without asking for the help of the Holy Spirit. When we do not have that help, Satan can so easily lead us astray. The devil knows more about the bible than we do! Just check out the story of his tempting Jesus in the desert! He tried to quote Scripture out of context in order to tempt Jesus to sin, but Jesus had not only studied Scripture during His growing years -- He had also given His life into the hands of His Father in heaven, and sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must do the same.

God bless,

Beryl

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In most cases the real cause of unbelief is the love of sin. When we are proud and sin-loving, we do not welcome the teachings of God's Word. If we are not willing to obey God's Word, we are ready to doubt. We must have a sincere desire to know the truth and a willingness to obey it. If we study the Bible with a willing heart, we will find good reasons to believe that it is God's Word. We will understand the truths that will being us salvation.

Christ said, "Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority (John 7:17). We should not question and find fault with the truths we do not understand. We must walk in the light that we already have and then we will receive greater light. By the grace of Christ we must do every day that has been made plain to us. Then we will be able to understand and do those things we now doubt and question.

Here we find the basis of much of the unbelief -- we do not like the truth, and so we look for anything that will give us an excuse to disbelieve! That is our fallen human nature! God is fair and honest. He invites us to test Him, and try Him, and He assures us that if we do that honestly, we will find the truth.

God bless,

Beryl

Wow, I have been absent for almost a month. Sorry about that. Much of the time I had no real access to the internet, but had a wonderful time as we took our health programs up through the vast north-west of Western Australia. We did a Health Age Assessment for just under 900 people, and had some great conversations with them. So, now, on with our study of "Steps to Christ"

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We all may find out whether God's Word is real and His promises are true when we study the Bible for ourselves and see if God keeps His promises. God tells us to "find out for yourself how good the Lord is" (Psalm 34:8). We must not depend on the word of another, but find out for orselves. God says, "Ask and you will receive" (John 16:24). He will keep His promises. They have never failed: they never can fail. As we come near to Jesus we rejoice in His wonderful love. Our doubt and darkness will fade away in the light of His presence.

Spending personal time with God's Word is the best way to grown spiritually. In the quietness and solitude we can reflect on God's dealings with mankind during the ages. In the Old Testament we can feel the agony of a loving God whose chosen people are continually turning their backs on Him, and feel the pathos as He lets them go. But we also see a God Who is a forgiving God, willing to take the people back into His fold, regardless of what they have done. We see His patience, and we can thank Him for that same love and patience being showered out on us -- still imperfect, but still loved with a Divine love.

God bless,

Beryl

So glad to see you back, Beryl!!

Thank you, Gail, and it is nice to be back, too -- although I loved every minute of being away. We have a busy 2 months ahead of us, although mostly these will just be day trips away, with the one exception of a week that I will spend in Wiluna which will involve health work with the Aboriginal population, plus ministering to our own church members on the Sabbath.

For the last 2 years this outreach has been just part of an experimental program funded by the Commonwealth Government, with plane travel provided by one of the mining companies. As a result of changes that have taken place, the Federal Government has now authorised this funding to continue for the next five years.

I am now planning for that program, and finding ways in which I can involve our own Aboriginal people who are already in a Health training course at our Mamarapha College (adult Adventist Aboriginal college here in Western Australia), so that eventually this work can be carried on by their own people.

Your prayers are welcome.

Beryl

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The apostle Paul says of God, "He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingsom of His dear Son." (Colossians 1:13). When we have accepted salvation, we are able to say "that God is truthful" (John 3:33). We can say, "I needed help, and I found it in Jesus. Everything I needed was given me. The hunger of my heart was satisfied. The Bible shows Jesus Christ to me. Do you ask why I believe in Jesus? Because He is to me a divine Saviour. Why do I believe the Bible? Because I have found it to be the voice of God speaking to my heart." We can know in our hearts that the Bible is true and that Christ is the Son of God. We can know that we are not following false and foolish ideas.

The Word of God gives to us a firm foundation for our faith. We can join with the apostle Peter when he says "We did not follow cleverly invented stories [KJV "fables"] when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:16 NIV).

Faith in God and His Word grows in proportion to the time spent with it. In spending time with God's Word, we not only get to know God better -- we also get to know ourselves better -- and sometimes we just don't want to know! Not wanting to know is not very helpful! Unless we become aware of our need of the Living Water that Jesus promised, we can literally die spiritually. Let us ask God to show us our need, and then pray for Him to provide it.

God bless,

Beryl

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Peter tells his brothers to "continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). When the people of God are growing in grace, they will understand His Word better and better. They will see new light and beauty in its holy truths. Light and truth have been given to the church in all ages, and they will be given until the end of time. "The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come" (Proverbs 4:18).

This day the world is in crisis as another major company faces bankrupcy and the loss of investors' money. For many people, it is a time of despair. The financial world is reeling, wondering what will happen next.

For those who are watching and waiting for the soon coming of our Saviour it is another sign of the nearness of the end, of the coming of the One who has promised that, despite desperate times as we near the end, the faithful followers can be assured that their "bread and water will be sure."

"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21::28.

God bless,

Beryl

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By faith we may look to life in heaven and take hold of God's promise that we will forever grow in understanding. In heaven our powers will unite with God's powers, and we will be brought in touch with Him from whom comes the light of truth.

We can be thankful that in heaven all the things that we do not understand now will be explained and made clear. We may now see only broken plans and failure, but then we shall see God's perfect and beautiful plan for our lives. "What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; than it will be complete -- as complete as God's knowledge of me" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

What a wonderful thought! All of those misunderstandings will be cleared up! We will continue to grow in stature (both physically and mentally), and over the years of eternity our knowledge of all things will increase! Why, I might even begin to understand algebra!!

But, far more importantly, I will be able to personally kneel before Him and thank Him for what He has done for me in my life.

I will meet you there!

God bless,

Beryl