DO YOU WANT GOD’S BLESSINGS OR CURSES?

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The living God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). He offers us true life and, with it, blessing. But He warns us against sin and the curse that always comes with it. Just as He did in the Garden, God offers us the quality of life that comes from obeying Him. God says, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live” (Proverbs 4:4).

There are many reasons to obey what God commands us in Scripture. Here are five of them:

1) God, your Creator, said it.

2) God knows better than we do.

3) God is in charge, and we are not.

4) Whenever I have obeyed God, I and my family have ultimately benefited.

5) Whenever I have done it my way instead of God’s, with all my rationalizations and excuses, it hasn’t been for His glory, for my good, or the good of others. To obey God is always in our ultimate self-interest. In a universe where God sets up the rules, what is right is also smart.

Finally, we should remember that God gives us the power and strength to obey Him. Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the third person of the Trinity to be our helper, our counsellor, our teacher, and our comforter. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for our spirit to function as the lamp of the Lord as God always intended.

“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:27

Scripture says we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in holiness.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” Titus 2:12

We are fast approaching the time of Jesus second coming to Earth to fulfill the promises God made to the nation He established for His purposes, Israel.

“Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” Ezekiel 36:33-36

ATHEIST VIEW OF AI VERSUS CHRISTIAN VIEW OF AI

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Naturalistic evolutionists argue that non-material things such as consciousness and emotion must be computable because humans experience these. This argument rests on the faulty assumption that humans are nothing more than meat-based computers. In such thinking our conscious experience of reality is merely the neural networks in our brain performing mathematical calculations through electrochemical reactions. They claim that everything we think, dream about, desire, and plan to do is determined by the laws of physics and chemistry. This is called eliminative materialism, or atheism taken to (consistent) extremes.10 Thus, since eliminative materialists believe that such things are all the result of pure computation in our brains, they see no reason to doubt that a computer could one day do these.

The Bible makes it clear, however, that there is more to us than our material body. We have a non-material spirit, and soul, and our consciousness is more than just electrochemical reactions in our brain.

“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:27 As the spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, it requires oil to function. It was always meant to be the vessel of the Holy Spirit. When we repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour God the Father sends the Holy Spirit to once again indwell our spirit (the lamp of the Lord). We can then function as the Lord intended.

“And as her (Rachel’s) soul was departing (for she was dying)…” Genesis 35:18. Rachel’s soul departed and went to Sheol which before Jesus’ resurrection was the holding place of all souls.

There is also substantial and tantalizing evidence from the work of brain researchers that the mind in some way exists independent of the brain. The pioneering work of Wilder Penfield, built on by fellow neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, is notable in this regard.11 The argument that such things can be computable because humans experience them is thus unsound because it is based on a faulty premise.

As a very powerful tool, AI can and will be used for evil purposes—like the internet has been. It may also lead to substantial social upheaval, as AI supplants many jobs. Many of these will be ‘white-collar’ roles once thought safe from robotic takeover.

However, just like the internet, AI will also be used for great good and to greatly improve our lives. I encourage fellow Christians to approach AI with wisdom, being aware of its risks and limitations, but willing to embrace its potential to be a very powerful tool for God’s kingdom.

Adapted from the article The AI revolution – What does it mean for you? by David Thomas http://www.creation.com

THE SPIRIT OF A MAN IS THE LAMP OF THE LORD

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“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:27

What an incredible truth. Our spirit is meant to be the lamp of the Lord. A lamp requires oil to function (period). It cannot function without oil. Likewise, our spirit cannot function as God intended without the Holy Spirit.

When Adam and Eve sinned and disobeyed God the Holy Spirit left each of their spirits and they could no longer function as the lamp of the Lord. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, God the Father sends the Holy Spirit to once again indwell our spirit and enables it to function once again as the lamp of the Lord.

We cannot function as a Christian without the Holy Spirit. He is the one who produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:22-24

He is the one who provides the nine gifts to enable us to minister effectively for God.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

“For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:8-11

Remember the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity make sure you do not grieve Him, nor quench His work in your life.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

“Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19