(Underrated) Bible Scriptures - Part 3

 

Posted Tuesday 13th July 2021

Happy Tuesday and Welcome to the 3rd part of my underrated Bible Scriptures.

I know that towards the end of the second part, I talked about 8 signs of backsliding more than I posted about Bible scriptures.

It doesn't matter though, I used scriptures during that either way, and to save you from scrolling I'm doing another part.

I really wanted to get through this scripture! So here we are 💙

#Scripture 16

Ecclesiastes 4:4

I also saw that man works hard and accomplishes a lot. But he does it only because he wants what his neighbour has. That doesn’t have any meaning either. It’s like chasing the wind.

This has a lot of similarities to Ecclesiastes 1 because Solomon also talked about chasing the wind there I believe.

What this verse is saying is that the only reason man works hard is, say his neighbour has something he wants, he most likely wants the same thing. 

In fact, there's a 90% chance he does. It all depends on what he has. 

Jealousy is not a good colour on anyone, most especially Christians.

Most of the time though someone might not really want the same thing that someone else has.

 They just want to compete with them. They might think “if they can get that so can I” or “I can get that better and faster than they can”.

It's like that song in that Christmas advert (I believe it's a Christmas one anyway but don't quote me on that)

"Anything you can do, I can do better.

I can do anything better than you.

No, you can't.

Yes, I can.

No, you can't.

Yes, I can.

No, you can't.

Yes, I can, Yes, I can!"

When you work hard for something, make sure it’s for something you actually want... not because of what someone else has. Competing with someone for the same thing, especially if you don’t want it is a waste of time.

There’s this quote I first heard on the news. But not normal news. African news, I’m from Nigeria. The news reporter said

“If you win the rat race, you are still a rat”

 

And at first I was confused for the longest time. I was thinking to myself  ‘what kind of quote is that? I mean, it makes sense but what's that even supposed to mean?’

Now it makes sense. It always did to be honest, although now I actually understand it. Most especially in a Biblical, spiritual or a scriptural context.

Say you compete with someone for something (a rat race)

And you get it...

Are you not still the same person?

You just have that thing you were competing with them with. It might not even make a difference in your life. Or if it does, it might not be very significant. And if it is, it probably won't last long. 

Kudos if it does though.

That’s why you shouldn’t always chase the things of the world. Because when you get it, it could leave you disappointed.

You might think “I wasted my time working hard for this? It wasn’t even worth it in the first place.”

Many things in life are worth working hard for. But not everything. God will never disappoint you though, and that’s a fact.

I guess that competition is good sometimes but it just depends on the situation. 

But don’t let competition consume you. 

Also don’t chase the things of the world because what’s trending could change fast. 

You can read Ecclesiastes 1:2 for more information - Ecclesiastes is gradually becoming one of my favourite Bible Books. My first are the book of Kings then Proverbs.

In light of the thing you want, today it’s wonderful and everyone wants it And when you finally save up to buy it next week or something? It’s outdated. 

Eternal things are never outdated.

#Scripture 17

Come to think of it, I should have probably noted down which scriptures I've used so that I don't use them again. I will do so in the future.

*Your time is coming!*

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up.

So what if it’s going to take you 10 years to reach your goal? 

As long as you keep going, it doesn’t matter how long it takes. And just because people are moving faster than you doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re failing. It’s best for you to go slowly than to go fast only for you to stumble backwards.

Joseph waited 13 years.

Abraham waited 25 years.

Moses waited 40 years.

Jesus waited 30 years.

Let's not forget Noah as well.

The next bit was from this website...

Noah's Ark Time Length

And it says this:

Although the Bible is silent on the exact timing, it is reasonable to assume that some time elapsed for the three sons to grow up and find a wife. I would be most comfortable giving a range of anywhere from 20 to 40 years making Ham no less than 16 at his marriage.

So if we think about this logically and work it out:

Years until the Flood	Event	Bible Reference
120	Countdown to the Flood begins	Genesis 6:3
100	Noah has Japheth, the first of his sons, when he was 500 years old.	Genesis 5:32; 10:21
98	Noah has Shem who was 100 two years after the Flood.	Genesis 11:10
? Perhaps 95 or 96 the same time between Japheth and Shem.	Ham was the youngest one born to Noah and was aboard the Ark, so he was born prior to the Flood.	Genesis 9:24; Genesis 7:13
? Perhaps 20–40 years for all of the sons to be raised and find a wife	Each son was old enough to be married before construction on the Ark begins.	Genesis 6:18
~ 55–75 years (estimate)	Noah was told to build the Ark, for he, his wife, his sons, and his sons’ wives would be aboard the Ark.	Genesis 6:18
Ark Completed
?	Gather food and put it aboard the Ark.	Genesis 6:21
7 days	Loading the Ark.	Genesis 7:1–4
0	Noah was 600 when the floodwaters came on the earth.	Genesis 7:6

We would end up with a range of about 55 to 75 years for a reasonable maximum time to build the Ark. Of course, it could be less than this depending on the age that Noah’s sons took wives.

Consider that the Ark was completed prior to loading the animals that the Lord brought to Noah (Genesis 7:1–4) and that they had to take time to gather food and store it aboard the Ark (Genesis 6:21). So carefully considering the text, we can conclude that the construction of the Ark did not involve the 120 years mentioned in Genesis 6:3 but 75 years at the most.

Here's a reminder of the scripture this time:

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up.

God’s timing is always perfect. Never early, never late. It requires faith and a whole lot of patience but it’s worth the wait.

If God is making you wait, you’re in good company.

Let’s take a real life example. 

It takes Person A a month to get a million subscribers on YouTube. 

It takes Person B three years to get the same thing. 

Person B might give up because of this but no boo! Do not do this. Giving up means that you’ve let the devil win. It’s like you’ve risked all for nothing.

So I encourage you today to keep pursuing your dreams regardless of how long it’s going to take. And remember: the longer and more you have to wait, the better the reward in general.

Your peers and colleagues might be ahead of you now. Later though... you might be ahead of them.

It had taken  Noah almost a century to build the ark as you can hopefully see from the table above. It  had taken him approximately 55 - 75 years to build the ark. I knew that but I wanted more detail. The table helped me and I hope it helped you as well.

If it had taken Noah that long to build an ark then who says it's too late for you to accomplish your dreams? There were most likely some naysayers that had believed he was wasting his time, just like real life.

You don't have to listen to them.

In all your ways obey him.
    Then he will make your paths smooth and straight. Proverbs 3:7

#Scripture 18

Jeremiah 29:11  

11 “I know the plans I have for you,” announces the Lord. “I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come.”

This is very well known so next time, I will do Jeremiah 29:12-15.

God promises us that the plans he has for our lives are going to be of good and never of evil to bring us to an expected end. 

When God promises something, he sticks to it. That’s why you should always trust in God.

Some people make promises to you but then they break it maybe due to unforeseen circumstances or because they’re not genuine. 

I for one have broken promises many times, mainly unintentionally though there have been some deliberate breaking of promises here and there.

 But God is genuine. His magnificence never changes. 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. You can find that in Hebrews 13:8

Isaiah 55:8-9 says that God's thoughts are higher than ours (along with many other things as well) and you can't argue with that.

That's all folks! See you on Thursday by God's Grace.

Peace!!☮

Gotta love Aaliyah - I do anyway!

Posted Saturday 18th July 2021 

I'm going to stop posting the day I'm going to update next as I hardly stick to it.

Also God told me to post my Godly Playlist on here so here we are:

My Gospel Playlist

In my last post I talked about how I was going to analyse Jeremiah 29:12-14 because I had done Jeremiah 29:11. It was meant to be up to 15 but I couldn't really analyse that verse so without further ado, let's begin.

#Scripture 19

12 Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you.

Call out to God so that he will do what you want him to do, as long as it is according to his will anyway.

Sometimes it might be hard for you to know if a prayer is according to God's will or not especially if it takes a long time for God to answer it. 

But just know that if God says that he will answer a prayer then all you can really do is to wait on him and to trust him.

God has not given you the spirit of fear but the power of love and a sound mind.

When you pray to God in public, make sure it's because you can be close to him, not just because you want to be seen and watched and/or praised by other people.

God warns us about this in Matthew 6:5, which says “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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full."

It's not really a "reward" though, more of  a punishment. God will reward your praying in his own times, as long as your intentions are true and genuine.

The quote just before says that we should praise God in private than in public.

Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. This is in Matthew 6:4

You don't have to be at church to pray by the way, it can be anywhere. Just on Thursday on the way to work, I believe I prayed in silent on the bus as I forgot to do so when I woke up.

#Scripture 20

 13 When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me. 

Even though God says that if you seek for something, you will find it and if you ask for something, you will receive it in Matthew 7 vs 7:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

He additionally says that we don't get our prayers answered most of the time because we ask amiss in James 4 vs 3

You ask for it, but you do not get it, because you ask in a wrong way. You want to use it for yourselves and not for others.

It's good to put yourself first but you don't need to do so all the time, as that's being selfish. Make sure that you think of other people as well.

Look for God because God loves you and he always wants to hear from you, you just don't realise it sometimes.

#Scripture 21
14 I will be found by you,” announces the Lord. “And I will bring you back from where you were taken as prisoners. I will gather you from all the nations. I will gather you from the places where I have forced you to go,” announces the Lord. “I will bring you back to the place I sent you away from.”

When God takes you somewhere, you can be rest assured that he will bring you back, assuming he still has a plan and purpose for your life.

Sometimes in life, people go out but they don't come back.

Not because they did something wrong or they were bad people (although sometimes they actually were) but because God is unfortunately finished with them  -  or worst case scenario they had tragically taken their own life.

Anytime God had sent someone somewhere in the Bible and they had obeyed him, he had always brought them back no matter what. When God says

I will bring you back to the place I sent you away from

Towards the end of the verse, it could even be situations. 

Most times God can bring us out of situations only for us to go back there again.

 However God will only bring us back to the same place we were before if it is according to his will and it if was a good place that really benefited us in the first place.

That's all for now - I'll see you when I see you. By the way, the next scriptures will be in Part 4. I don't want these pages to be too long to save you guys from scrolling.

Tata for now! xoxo

This wasn't as long as the other ones, sorry about that, it was almost 2AM when I posted this so you can tell I was pretty tired.

But I love this website regardless and I'm super proud of it!!