Bible and world timeline

So we were watching tv last night and it was a show on 10,000 BC, the paleolithic era- ice age/stone age.  Something that has always made me wonder is what is happening in the Bible during these different eras, where were the dinosaurs? Did Moses live through the ice age? I don't know if it's the way me brain works or what, but I just cannot comprehend the timelines. I found a website this morning but I don't know if it's right, I don't really understand it. http://wyler.net/timeline.html  This is what it says:

10,000- people were hunters/gatherers/

appx 10,000 - 4000 BC neolithic era/ late stone age

4,000 BC  Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of eden.

So were Adam and Eve alive in 10,000 BC, were the alive all that time before Eve ate the forbidden fruit?


3,800 BC- Noah and the Ark, the flood

appx 1450-1208 BC- Moses and the exodus from Egypt

429-322 BC - Socrates, Aristotle, Plato

73 BC- Julius Ceasar, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra

25 BC- Augustus Ceasar (Octavius)

0 BC/AD - Birth of Christ

There's alot more to this timeline that I left out, check out the website if you want to see more. It'sry  very interesting to see what was happening around the world. I don't how creidble the website is but it's something.

Breakdown of the Bible

The Old Testament
       First 5 books
             Genesis: creation
             Exodus: Jews leaving Eqypt
             Leviticus: God's laws
             Numbers:
             Deuteronomy:
    History Books:
              Joshua
              Judges
              Ruth
              1 Samuel
             2 Samuel
             1 Kings
             2 Kings
             1 Chronicles
             2 Chronicles
             Ezra
             Nehemiah
             Esther
      Books Of Poetry"
               Job: Why do people suffer?
               Psalms: prayers and hymns
               Proverbs: advice on life
               Ecclesiastes: life without God is meaningless
              Song of Songs: celebrates romantic love
      Books of Prophets: (a prophet is someone who speaks for God)
                Isaiah: look to a future messiah
                Jeremiah:
                Lamentations: records five poems of sorrow for the fallen city
                Ezekiel:
                Daniel:
                Hosea:
                Joel:
                Amos:
                Obadiah:
                Jonah:
                Micah:
                Nahum:
                Habakkuk:
                Zephaniah:
                Haggai:
                Zechariah:
                Malachi:
The New Testament:
      History Books (first 4 books called Gospels meaning "good news") consists of 4 accounts of the life of     Jesus and the good news he brought to earth.
                   Matthew:
                   Mark:
                   Luke:
                   John:
                   Acts:
       The Letters:
            (Paul's Letters Romans through Philemon)
                    Romans:
                    1 Corinthians:
                    2 Corinthians:
                    Galations:
                    Ephesians:
                    Colossians:
                    1 Thessalonians:
                    2 Thessalonians:
                    1 Timothy:
                    2 Timothy:
                     Titus:
                     Philemon:
              Other Letters:
                     Hebrews:
                     James:
                     1 Peter:
                     2 Peter:
                     1 John:
                     2 John:
                     3 John:
                     Jude:
                     Revelation: visions and symbols, only new testament book that concentrates on prophecy

Reading the Bible Daily

I've come to realize you have to work everyday in your faith to keep it strong. I went this weekend without opening my Bible once and so quickly I fall. Judgments about people, anger, wordy-dirds (dirty words) all come back. I've been trying so hard to stay in the word and to practice what God teaches and it all goes downhill when you stop trying, when you stop reaching for your goal. I didn't have any major blow-outs that I'm infamous for, but I sure was having a hard time controlling my emotions. If you want a close personal relationship with God it takes work and it takes time. You can't read the Bible once and expect to know it all, you have to study it every day and pray, make it your goal in life to be a close personal friend of Jesus Christ. Don't let others read the Bible to you, when I make posts on here look it up. Make sure what I am saying is what is written. Don't let someone drag you astray because you are too lazy.

Thankful for the little things. Thankful for family.

I have been ungrateful in my life. Growing up when you're given whatever you want and get away with whatever you want you really cannot help it. As I got older I was much more appreciative for the things I had. All except my family. Sure I was thankful to have a mom and a dad, sometimes thankful for the two little pains I called my sisters. But I was never truly thankful to have a family together. And now more than ever I am thankful to have them all, I wish I could say I have them all together, but I don't.

I have a wonderful husband that I love and a daughter that means the world to me, along with a whole new family of in-laws, this will be my first holiday with their last name, kinda special. I do have a step dad that maybe one day we can have a close relationship, we are not there yet, but we'll get there. I have new half-brother that I love, Bella loves him too! My two sisters I appreciate more than I ever would have guessed; when you get older and move out, it seems you want to be home more than ever. Newly to my family I have a wonderful almost-step-mom, if that makes any sense, she makes my dad happy and that makes me happy. We've been able to have a good close relationship that I'm thankful for. Along with her, I have an almost-step-brother and an almost-step-sister. We all get along pretty well which is something to be thankful for if you've ever had step-family you didn't get along with.

It gets hard during the holidays to separate your time between 3 families. Someone will always feel left out or hurt, I'm hoping the Lord plans on giving me many more years on this earth to make up for what a pain I have been and to be more of a blessing to people around me that I love. And don't get me wrong, I would love to get everybody in my family together to have a big Thanksgiving or Christmas together, but unfortunately we cannot all get along always. I used to have a big part in that but everyday the Lord draws me near and dear to him and I am learning to forgive, myself and others.

Christmas gets hard, my husband and I work full time but we both make barely over minimum wage, so buying Christmas gifts for everyone gets hard. I know it's not about all the presents, but it's nice to let people know they mean a lot to you, and that you appreciate them.  I'm hoping no one is upset with the way Christmas plays out. But then think about all of the kids in orphanages, they will not get anything this holiday season, or even all year. I encourage everyone to get together with your church and donate food, clothes and toys, or anything you can to help out. It will make your more grateful and thankful, it will help your kids be more thankful, and it will show God's love to people who do not know him.

So in this season let us be thankful for the family and friends we have, and let us be thankful to the one who is behind every thing that we have. 

Psalm 100: 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Psalms 118: 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Prayer

Prayer is an all-powerful thing. You pray for good health and safety, for good grades and happiness. Sometimes we pray for a winning game or a homeless man on the street. I hope we pray to give thanks.  No matter what we are praying for God hears us. We think God can only answers "yes" and that's not reality. God says "no" and he also says "in time you will see the plans I have for you".

2 Chronicles 7: (14) If my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (15) Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 

Psalm 4: (1) Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.


Matthew 6: (5) "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (7) And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

We should turn to prayer daily. Not only to ask for what we want but the give thanks and praise his name for the grace he has given.


What do we pray about? Is it selfish wants? Is it cursing others for our pain? Is it wishing pain on others? Is it praise and worship prayers? Do we pray for guidance and grace? Do we pray for the leaders of our country?

What should we pray about?




"Lord, I give all the glory to you, if it weren't for you I would be condemned to an eternal death. Through your son I am saved and I thank you for your eternal grace. I pray the leaders of our country will be guided by your hands and will make decisions that will reflect your law and compassion in every way."

Wisdom

Proverbs 2: (1) My son, if you accept my words and store up  my commands within you, (2) turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, (5) then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (6) For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (9) Then you will understand what is right and just and fair- every good path. (10) For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. (11) Discretion will protect you, and understanding will gaurd you.

Solomon asks for wisdom:
When David knew he was about to die he called to his son Solomon, he told him to live faithfuly and obey all of commands God's so that God would keep his promise to him and there would always be a descendent of David on the throne of Israel.
Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, there God appeared to him and said,
1 King 3: (5) "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." 
Solomon replied
(9) "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (10) The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. (11) So God said to him, "Since you have not asked for this and not for a long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the deaths of your enemies but for discerninment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. (13) Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for- both riches and honor- so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. (14) And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."

God is pleased by wisdom and faith. He will reward you for being a follower of him and making him your God above all gods. God blessed Solomon with defeat after defeat of all his enemies. I like to think if we ask God for wisdom and we follow his commands he will help us defeat the devil, and the desire to do evil. The Bible has many verses on wisdom, here's a few more.

Proverbs 3: (1) My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, (2) for they will prolong your life many years and bring your life prosperity.

Proverbs 16: (16) How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding than silver!

Proverbs 19: (20) Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.
(27) Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23: (19) Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.

SO as you can see, God puts a big emphasis on being wise and listening to his commands. We will be eternally rewarded for doing his works and being wise in our ways and spreading his love and following his commands.

Job 5

Accepting correction and discipline from the Lord.

Job 1: (11) "But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

Job was a man rich with blessings from God. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters, he owned several thousand sheep, many camels and donkeys, oxen and servants. He was almost sinless. He lived in fear of the Lord and he detested evil. He had a morning ritual that consisted of a burned sacrifice just in case on of his had sinned. Satan came before the Lord and wanted him to test Job. He said that Job would surely curse his name if things were not going so well. During the first test a messenger came 4 times; once to tell Job that Sabeans had taken his oxen and donkey, the next messenger told him that fire came from the sky and  burned all of his sheep and servants, the next messenger told him the Chaldeans came and swept down to carry away all his camels. Yet another messenger came to tell Job that a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the house all of his children were in and they were all dead.

Job 1: (20) At this, Job got up and tore off his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship (21) and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave me and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." (22) In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. 

Again Satan came to the Lord;
Job 2: (4) "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. (5) But reach out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."

The Lord let Satan take Job into his hands, with the exception he must spare Job's life.  Satan went and afflicted Job with painful sores that covered his body. Job scratched them with a piece of broken pottery.

Job 2 (9) His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" (10) He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. 

Job had three friends that came to visit him, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. When ever they saw him from a distance they cried, for they could see his suffering. They sat with him for a week and all said nothing. When Job finally spoke he cursed every day of life from birth.
Job 3: (26) "I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."

Then his friend Eliphaz spoke:

Job 4: (3) Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. (4) Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. (7) Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Job 5: (1) Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? (2) Resentment kills a foll, and envy enslaves the simple. (6) For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. (7) Yet a man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upwards. (9) He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. (17) Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. (27) We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.


Job again speaks and Bildad answer. Job speaks again:

Job 9: (2) Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God? (4) His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. (6) He shakes the earth from it's place and makes its pillars tremble. (7) He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. (8) He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. (10) He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. (14) How can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?

The book of Job is a very long discussion that continues between Job and his three friends, then God enters the conversation. At the end of Job God makes it known he is angry with Job's three friends because they do not speak of him like Job does. He makes Job pray for them and the three friends have to make a very large sacrifice.

Job Epilogue: (10) After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.(12) The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. 


I'm not saying we should purposely not curse God for the hardships in our life expecting to get more in return. But we should know that he knows all and he knows what is best. If we trust in him and do as he says we will be blessed in his name. Maybe not on earth like Job was, but in heaven. We have so much more to receive in heaven than we could ever fathom here on earth. We need to take everything that happens in our life as a correction, or as discipline. None of us are blameless or without sin. We deserve every hardship we get plus some. Luckily for us, Jesus died on the cross so that we would not have to pay for our sins. He already has. 

In the End

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have part in anything that happens under the sun. (7) .... for it is now that God favors what you do. (9) Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all your meaningless days. (12) Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

Make your life meaningful, do what you are called to do. Praise the Lord, God your father. Obey his commands and we shall be his people and forever have life. Not just life but a perfect life. Everything bad and evil will be forgotten, we will be perfect and new. New without sin. And we will stand by God the Father for ever more.

Don't let your life be wasted. Meaningless. Without purpose. Make today a fresh start. Make today a new day. Start your life over, it's only too late after your dead.

Living the Life

2 Corinthians 5: 1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2) Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, (3) because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. (4) For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (5) Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (6) Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. (7) We live by faith, not by sight. (8) We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (9) So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

On Wednesday I learned this passage tells us 2 important pieces of information: 1) You will die. 2) You will be judged. Andy (the pastor in the video) thinks that during this judgment we will either be rewarded or overlooked for our faithfulness or unfaithfulness. I tend to disagree a bit, I don't think God will hand out gold stars to the people who pleased him the most, I think he will be overjoyed to have us up there in heaven with him. We will all have to give accounts on our lives and why we did what we did. God already knows what we did, he knows it before we can think to do it, so it's not going to be of any surprise to him. He wants us to *look beyond this life* that we have on earth, it doesn't end here. Our beginning starts when our time here ends. He doesn't want us to look back and *see the opportunity we missed*. We shouldn't look at our time spent on this earth serving God as a *sacrifice, but an investment*.

Matthew 6: 20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there is your heat also."

Discussion questions: ( from our small group)
1) Do you live for today or with the end in mind?
2) How often do you think about how you should live?
3) How do you feel about the account you will give for your life?
4) How should your life change since you will give an account for everything you do?

I want to be able to stand before God and all his angels and say after this day, I lived my life for you, the way you have called me to, because your are my heavenly father, my creator and my savior. I lived for you!

My Control Issues

(I decided since this is my blog, I would write about my life and life experiences.) I have been having a good couple months, but this weekend my emotions got the best of me. My husband will soon be taking the air traffic controller test, I am having a hard time letting God control this situation. I feel like if I'm not in control, he won't pass the test, which then will mean I cannot go back to school. I don't know if it's because the test is coming up so soon that I'm turning into an irrational, emotional wreck I've been crying about money, him going away for training for three months, will I ever finish school? will i ever go back to school? how long will we have to live at my in-laws? will we ever get to stand on our own feet?

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.


Why is it so hard to let go. Will we fail sometimes? YES! Will we win sometimes? I HOPE SO! All I want is to be a great mom and wife. I want to be a volunteer at school and at church. I want to be a role model for those who have none. For those who have no hope. No Love. No choice. No chance. I feel like this job is my only way for my plans to work out. I keep thinking my my my. Not yours yours yours. God let your will be done! I only want you to use me for the good of all people, your people.

Getting myself upset over the situation isn't going to make it happen any faster or any better. So why do I worry? We have no backup plan if he doesn't pass this test, so I'm praying we really won't need a backup plan. God is my backup plan. I pray that his will be done and that it may be clear to me what I am to do.