Geoffrey's Notebook

Prayer seems good for me, but why pray if God will do His will anyway? Note: Someone recently asked another person this question via text. They asked me for some help in answering it. But my answer needed to be brief for a text response. This question deserves a lot more fellowship. the mystery of prayer Prayer is a mystery. God can do anything He wants, but He has chosen to limit himself so we can join Him on earth by prayer to accomplish what He wills in heaven. This is why He taught us to pray "Thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth." Though God knows what will happen, that does not mean He has taken away our choice. His will is going to be accomplished, but we have the option to delay it or to pray for it. He especially loves to answer big prayers when we pray together (see Matthew 18:18-20).   Watchman Nee's book Powerful According to God has a nice small chapter on this question . You can read that chapter ( here ) on the free sample for the eBook. 

 Recently after sharing on 1st John a question came up to do with one of the more difficult Scriptures.  Here's the 1 John series , this question has to do with #6 - Practicing Righteousness. Here's the dialogue:  Q:  Thank God and our brother for this very timely message on practical righteousness, that is so essential if we are to be in readiness for the "presence " of the Lord. However, I was left with some questions regarding the interpretation of 1 John 3:19-20. When I read verse 19, it seems to me to be a warning not to unconditionally follow the heart: In other words,other if we have a definite word from the Lord, then it takes priority over the condemnation of the heart;'likewise if our heart does approve, then we should follow the witness of the Spirit, life and peace.Perhaps our brother would offer some clarification. Again the message was a real blessing. A:  Amen, this is so essential to be ready for the Lord's return. :)  Those two verses in 1 ...

While going over this question in preparation for a local youth meeting, my son already had his own answer:   It is actually that simple. Creation has to stop at some point. If everything has to have a beginning, then there must be something before the beginning in order to begin everything else. Otherwise, once we find out who created God we have to ask who created that one? And at some point, we run into the real God who has always existed. Before there was a beginning of heavens and earth being created (Gen. 1:1) there was God. And He began all of creation:  John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being.  Hebrews 11:3 By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear. 

Jonah 1:14-16  Then they cried out to the Lord, 'Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.' Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. This is deliverance by casting the stubborn prophet overboard.  It’s that part of your heart, deep asleep in the depths of the boat, that is running from the Lord. He is not innocent. He is not to be kept on the ship. Release him to the Lord’s monster-fish to be brought near to Sheol. If he dies, it was the Lord who let him die. If he is brought to land, your old stubbornness against the Lord’s will may become your new resoluteness to accomplish the Lord’s mission.  Oh Lord, I cast away this stubborn ‘man’ inside of me and release him to Your storms. Judge and do as You please. As for me, I w...

 Pretty amazing recent discovery:  Some solid evidence for an earthquake in the 8th century BC. In the Bible there was a major earthquake referenced during that same time period in Amos and Zechariah: "The words of Amos, ... in the days of Uzziah king of Judah... two years before the earthquake." (Amos 1:1) "And ye shall flee [by] the valley of my mountains ... like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." (Zechariah 14:5) It's always fun to watch archeology catch up to the Scriptures and even color them for us a little.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-unearth-1st-jerusalem-evidence-of-quake-from-bibles-book-of-amos/?fbclid=IwAR2teDM3BUMdzXg5X2XTgQslIlPHFT45Qi6mnxdgbP39jHIMNghTpL0zCMY

10 Useful Witnesses Verses (*Note: question received via text - thought I'd post more details here.) For sharing the good news you should find some various sections to either explain or work with someone where they are. They may be dealing with the vanity of the world and you could use most of Ecclesiastes, or they may simply have the question, What is the good news? and you could use Romans 1:1-4 or 1 Cor 15:1-6. Wherever the person is, and with whatever materials you can remember, the Holy Spirit will lead with some appropriate passages and concepts to work from.  However, it's helpful to have some specific verses memorized for when it comes time to lead someone through the threshold of salvation. Those would be the first ones I'd memorize so that way you could at least help someone who asks the question, What must I do to be saved? Here are 10 of those that I'd begin with. They cover a variety of actions that help with believing for salvation: 1. Romans 10:9 Confess ...