What does God Hate?

God is Love/Light - 1 John 1:5

With all the discord you see in this nation and hate in the world, do you ever wonder "If God is love, why is this happening?"  You know that man has free will to think and do as he desires but you can not comprehend why God allows bad to happen.  You might be confused about what God wants verses what humans do.  What does God hate?  What does God allow?  If you look at what the Bible says, you will find clues in ten commands from God as well as a list of things he finds deplorable in people.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,

a false witness who pours out lies,

 and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

- Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV)

At first glance. you may think that 7 and 6 seem like different numbers.  Read the scriptures again and notice that deception (lying/lies) is listed twice.  God must really hate deception!  In this modern world where many think a little lie, bending of the truth, or cheating are acceptable to get what is desired.  You may to ask yourself is that little bit of guilty conscience God nudging you away from the grip of evil? Just letting the devil in for what seems like a little thing, may lead to distancing yourself from God and leading you down the wrong path.  Yet with love, He will forgive the repentant and converted liar.  

Ways Jesus Prayed

Jesus gave us an example of words to pray in the Lord's Prayer.  Although some believe  that the only way to pray is on your knees, others feel it is ok to pray standing up or sitting down.  Did you know that Jesus prayed in various positions?  

Jesus prayed: 

• Crying (Hebrews 5:7)
• Face down (Mathew 26:39) 
• Kneeling (Luke 22:41)
• Sitting (Matthew 26:20,26-27) 
• Standing (Mark 11:25)
• On the Cross (Luke 23:33-34)

Some think you should pray first thing in the morning and others feel at night is best.  Did you know Jesus prayed at different times of the day?

Jesus prayed at:  

• Morning (Mark 1:35)
• Meals (Luke 24:30)
• Evening (Matthew 14:23)
• Night (Luke 6:12)

In many of the scriptures, Jesus also prayed:

• Alone / Privately 
• For individuals
• In groups / Publically 
• Over followers
• With family and friends

What posture do you use when you pray?  Humbly prostrate, kneeling in supplication or adoration, standing ready for victory, or sitting and listening for God?  Do you lower your head, close your eyes, or raise your hands? When do you pray?  Morning, noon, or night?  Where do you pray?  Do you pray only in church?  Or do you pray in the car, at work, at home, on trips? Also, what and who do you pray for?   The important thing is for you to pray everyday.

What is the Central Theme of the Bible?

Ever wonder what the central theme of the Bible is?  I hope you like statistics and math, because according to the numbers, the central theme of the Bible is trust in the Lord.

Did you know there are 27 New Testament books and 39 Old Testament books?  That is 66 total books!  The New Testament was originally written in Greek and the Old Testament in Hebrew/Aramaic, which means every version of the Bible you read in English is a translation or interpretation of the original scriptures.  2 John is the shortest book of the Bible with 13 verses.  Where as Psalms is the longest at 150 chapters.

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."

Psalm 118:8 (KJV)

There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 chapters in the New Testament of the King James (KJV) Bible. That is 1,189 total chapters! If you divide 1,189 in half, the middle chapter is either Psalms 117 or Psalms 118 (depending on whether you round up or down - so experts may disagree).  Some say this chapter because 594 chapters are reported on either side of Psalm 118, so most feel it is the central chapter.  Others selected  118  because it is book-ended by both the longest (119) and shortest (117) chapters in the book of Psalms.

So let us go deeper in the math to decide for sure what is at the center .  Did you know the New Testament has 7,957 verses and the Old Testament has 23,145 in KJV? That is a total of 31,102 verses!  The longest verse is Esther 8:9 and shortest verse of the Bible is John 11:35.  The verse estimated at the center of the Bible is believed to be Psalms 118:8 because 594x2 totals 1188.

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans."

Psalm 118:8 (NIV)

To be honest, if you count words it may come out differently - especially since there are so many different version of the Bible.  For example the Amplified (AMP) is typically more wordy as it attempts to clarify the scriptures with more adjectives and adverbs.  Maybe you can not really prove it with numbers.  However, anyway you look at it, I think all Christians would agree "Trust in the Lord" is the central theme of the Bible.

Five Names for Jesus from the book of Matthew

In a Bible list post on chapter 1 of Matthew, we looked at Five Names for Jesus Christ.  The last twp in that list are only used in the first chapter of the book of Matthew.  However, the others continue throughout Matthew.  Below are five additional names which may be found multiple times in the book of Matthew using the King James Version (KJV).

5 More Names for Jesus from the book of Matthew 

• King indicates a royal ruler by birth (King of The Jews prophesies fulfilled in chapter 1 and 21, both King and Kingdom by Jesus himself in chapters 26, 25 and by his persecutors in chapter 27)
• Son of God shows divine side of Christ (acknowledged by devils in chapter 4 and 8, also called Beloved Son and Chosen Servant by God the father in chapters 3 and 12, affirmed by disciples in chapter 14 )
• Son of Man shows human side of Christ (Jesus refers to himself as this in chapters 8-13, 16-30, and 24-26)
• Lord indicates someone with power and authority (Jesus referring to himself in chapters 7, 12 as Lord of the Sabbath, and 21-22, where others referring to Jesus are chapter 8, 13, 14, 15-17, 20-21)
• Prophet means one who proclaims the will of God (by himself at end of chapter 13, by others in chapters 14 and 21)

Ten Things You Will Not Find in Heaven

Lots of people say what they think Heaven will be like.  Some reference what the Bible says and others base their thoughts on what they personally like here on earth.  For Christians, Revelations contains some very comforting words about Heaven.As an example, below are 10 things we are promised we will NOT have to endure in Heaven from Revelation chapter 21.

Personal - In Heaven, there will be:

NO sadness/sorrow (because we will have more joy)
NO death (because we have eternal life)
NO crying (because He has wiped tears away)
NO pain/illness (because we are healed)
NO old-age (because we are made new)

Physical - In Heaven, there will be:

NO crime/immoral acts (sin cannot be there)
NO locked gates (new freedom as it is always open to us)
NO temple (God is always there)
NO sun or moon (God’s glory is the light)
NO night (again - God’s glory is the light)

Five Names for Jesus in Matthew 1

Do you ever wonder why there are so many names for Jesus in the Bible?  I believe these Biblical names exist for a multitude of reasons.  Often the names for Jesus can show us the many sides of Christ, why He came, how He is to be received, and so that we better understand how important it is the reverence Him.   With this in mind, below are a few of the names for Jesus Christ presented at the beginning of the New Testament.

5 Names for Jesus from Matthew chapter one:

• Jesus means the Savior or Lord of Salvation (indicates God-given name to chosen earthly parents)
• Christ means Messiah or Anointed One (indicates who God appointed to carry out his purpose)
• Son of David means descendant  of royalty (indicates an earthly genealogy to show his = heritage as the promised King)
• Son of Abraham means descendant of Jews (indicates earthly genealogy to show lineage as chosen of God)
• Emmanuel / Immanuel means God with us (announces who is to come)

For Bible Resource containing an alphabetical list of names for Jesus along with a scripture reference, visit All the Names of Jesus.