We cannot listen to God since our minds are too noisy.

This verse in the Bible baffles our minds and arrests the attention of our hearts. Why did the Hebrews in Egypt not listen to Moses their leader? What had prevented them to do so? What would be its significance for us today? Can our sufferings, sicknesses and pains prevent us from paying due attention to the Word of God. It is possible that a life of misery can switch off one’s ears to the inner voice of God?

Bible unfolds to us a two-fold factor for the inability of the Israelites to pay attention to the words of Moses. One factor seems to be spiritual (internal) and the other, physical (external) one.

“They did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and their cruel bondage” (Ex 6:9). It is quite obvious that a soul cannot listen to the word of God due to its “broken spirit” and “cruel bondage.” In other words, a “broken spirit” and “cruel bondage” incapacitate a man/woman to heed to God’s word.

Broken Spirit

How does a man/woman’s spirit become broken? Who crushes/breaks one’s spirit? And how can we mend a broken spirit? It happens to the inner being of a person and so it is invisible. But we can observe the signs and symptoms of a “drooping spirit” in the way he/she performs his/her daily duties in life.

Once Jesus had met a group of people who were “crushed in their spirit,” “distressed” (ripto), broken hearted and “wearied” (Mt 9:36), and “he began to teach them at length” (Mk 6:34). Lengthy teaching might perhaps heal many of the broken spirited people of our time. It is the Lord alone “who heals the broken hearted and he binds up their wounds” (Ps 147:3). To do this, Jesus is empowered through the mighty anointing from above. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted” (Is 61:1; Lk 4:18). Elsewhere, Dr. Luke mentions that, “the power of the Lord was with him to heal” (Lk 5:17). And he lifts up those who are bowed down” (Ps 146:8).

“A dejected mind, a gloomy face and a wounded heart” would be the true manifestation of a “broken spirit” (Sir 25:23). It is quite natural for a soul to wander about in the world, once its goal in life is lost. And so, he/she desires to end up his/her life “in death” (Ps 109:16). It was the longing of Job (17:1), to choose death rather than life. “A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a broken spirit who can bear” (Pro 18:14). “A downcast spirit dries up the bones” (Pro 17:22).

Cruel bondage

We know from our experiences, that by the “sorrow of heart” or “a cruel bondage,” a human “spirit is broken” easily and quickly (Pro 15:13) and is unable to heed to the voice of the Lord. Even now, some sections of our human society, due to their abject poverty and age-old oppression, cannot rise above their bondages in order to plan for an egalitarian society. Even the every suggestion of it sounds to them like an utopian idea or a wishful dream for the far future.

Do you remember how the Lord had liberated a daughter of Abraham from the cruel bondage of Satan for eighteen long, years? “Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (Lk 13:16). In fact, He came to “liberate” people from their bondages (Lk 4:18; Jn 8:32).

Before preaching the Good News, should we not liberate our people from various types of bondages? Or should we not liberate them in and through the Gospel message that we preach? This spiritual activity can only be performed by the Spirit of the Lord (Lk 4:18). Let us pray that God will make us humble instruments in His hands for liberating many souls from the bondages of sin and Satan.

- – - written by Fr. J. Eapan SDB

Those who live a double standard life are bringing blame to the cross of Christ.

For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ – Philippians 3:18. We need to examine ourselves that are we living as enemies of cross of Christ in our day-to-day living? Bible has cited four reasons in Phil 3:19.

First reason is that those who live as enemies of Cross, for them destiny is destruction. Second they think their God is their stomach. Third is that they give glory to their shame and lastly their mind is on earthly things.

Destiny is destruction

We see the life of Judas. He knew Jesus very closely that too in person. He ate and drank with Him. He listened to the preachings of Jesus. Even then he betrayed Jesus by a kiss. His destiny we all know. The point is that we humans who receive Jesus in mass every Sunday; can we afford to cling to sin? Sin is pleasurable. We need to examine our conscience and make a confession. We can pray that the blood of Jesus may cleanse our body , mind and soul. We can also ask Jesus to interfere in our life so that HIS will may be done and HIS kingdom comes on this earth.

God is their stomach

Today the rich are getting richer. The thirst to be wealthy is like water flowing out of the mug. Our stomach is not full. People are not content with what they have. They want more and more. We need to trust Jesus in HIS providence. Everyday we say ‘Give us today our daily bread’. We need to be content with what God gives us. We also need to make sure that we are giving one-tenth of the income to our Lord’s house. It is a challenge to fill our mind with the Word of God. Because mind controls the stomach.

Glory is their shame

Am I a hypocrite? We need to ask this question to ourselves. Are we living two lives. One is that we regularly attend Sunday mass and outside Church we live a sinful life. Whom are we pleasing? Whom are we fooling? It is time to pull our strings and say no to sin. Living a double standard life is abateful. We Christians are more answerable to Lord on our judgement day. Do not glorify yourself after committing a sin instead we need to repent so that angels can glorify over a repentant sinner.

Mind on earthly things

Many of us have cravings on earthly things. What are earthly things? Is it food, clothes, house, job? Why are we worried about earthly things? We are called to live Christ like life. The challenge is how to set our mind on heavenly things rather than on earthly things. The answer to this challenge is by constantly praising and worshiping HIM. By giving praise and worship to the Lord, the Lord will set all things right without our knowledge. We should also understand that the wavelength of thinking of God and ours is different. The wavelength is equal to the difference between the land and the sky.

Download the Enemies of the Cross of Christ PDF

Whatever happens in our life, is for good. We need to patiently wait upon the Lord for HIS glory to fall on us. St. Paul tells us to love and embrace the cross. Living as enemies of the cross is self-indulging. Take a look at these Calvary Cross Pictures of Jesus Christ.

- – - written by Merly Simon

Why is the Bible the best book in the world?

The authenticity of the scriptures is also revealed in the fact that the prophecies come true in due time. The Bible is unique. Holy Bible is the best book in the world. There is no book in the world like it. It covers a period of 1600 years (1500 B.C. to A.D. 100) and was written by 40 different men from all walks of life. Some were kings, priests, and prophets; others were simple fishermen and farmers. Some were highly educated, like Moses and the apostle Paul; others had no formal education.

More than 3000 times, these men claimed what they wrote came directly from God (Moses: Ex.17:14; 24:4; 34:27. Paul: 1 Cor. 14:37. Peter: 2 Pet. 1:16-21. John: 1 Jn. 4:6). As utterly impossible as these facts seem, the record speaks for itself.

Jesus stated that the Old Testament is God’s Word (Mt. 5:17-18; 24:15; Lk. 24:44; Jn. 10:35). He confirmed the authorships of Moses, King David, the prophets Isaiah and Daniel. He validated the truth of such historical events as God’s creation of Adam and Eve, Noah and the universal flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Jonah being swallowed by a great fish. When tempted by the Devil, He did not answer with His own words of wisdom but countered each temptation with, “It is written,” followed by quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures (Mt. 4:4, 7, 10).

In Luke 4:25-27 Jesus confirmed the divine miracles recorded in the Hebrew Bible (TANAK) , concerning Old Testament revelation, stated, “I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved” (Mt. 5:18). In other words, Jesus affirmed the inspiration, inerrancy and accuracy of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Nothing in the Bible is a Myth

There is no myth in Bible, the best book in the world. The theologians teach the WORD Ministry saying that the first 7 chapters in the book of Genesis, the book of Job, and the crossing of the Red Sea is a “MYTH” The book of Job is the oldest book written by Job himself, in Arabic and was later translated into Hebrew by Moses.

The books of the Old Testament were canonized throughout Israel’s history and divided into three sections: the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses), Prophets and Writings. Jesus accepted these three divisions, and the books contained therein as God’s Word (Lk. 24:44); and He taught the authority, reliability, unity, clarity, sufficiency, historicity, inspiration, revelation, inerrancy, infallibility, and indestructibility of the Old Testament.

The Jewish Canon (Tanak) is not arranged in the same order as our Old Testament. Divided into three sections, consist of Torah the first 5 Books then the Prophets (Nevi’im) of 19 books and lastly Writings (Kethuvim) of 11 books; the total is 35 books. It begins with Genesis, and concludes 2 Chronicles. This order explains Jesus’ comment to the sinful religious leaders in Mt. 23: 34-35.

Prophecies in the Bible

One sure way to prove the Bible’s accuracy and veracity is to analyze the Hebrew scriptures’ prophecies. The number of events foretold by the prophets is enormous, and the events themselves are so specific they could only have been known and revealed by only God.

The prophecies recorded in this best book in the world are very precise and so specific that when they are fulfilled, it’s very clear there’s something unique and special about them. More than one-fourth of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was written. The Bible is a book of prophecy. It contains about 1000 prophecies, about 500 of which have already been fulfilled down to the minutest detail. With this kind of proven track record – 500 prophecies fulfilled with 100 percent accuracy – we can believe with confidence that the remaining 500 yet to be fulfilled prophecies will also come to pass at their appointed times.

Prophecy is the most credible proof of the uniqueness and divine inspiration of the Bible. Fulfilled prophecy also demonstrates that the Bible’s content is not man-made, but rather has its origins outside our own time-space continuum.

For example, 25 Jewish writers provided prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures detailing the life and ministry of the Messiah. The Messiah is the only person in history to have had His ancestry, birth, character, teaching, career, reception, rejection, death, burial, and resurrection pre-written at least 500 years before His birth. Jesus Christ clearly fit all the descriptions and fulfilled all the prophecies, including those that foretold of the messiah’s birthplace (Mic. 5:2; Mt. 2:1), manner of death (Isa. 53:8; Lk. 23:46), and resurrection (Ps. 16:10); Acts 2:29-32).

There are also numerous prophecies concerning Israel’s ruin (Dt. 28:15-68) and restoration (Ezek. 36:25-37:28). Some have been fulfilled, and others will be fulfilled.

How do we know the Bible we possess today is God’s Word? First, Jewish scribes were meticulous in copying the Hebrew text and counted every letter they wrote. If a mistake was made, the text was not corrected but, rather, immediately discarded. The nation of Israel collected and accurately preserved manuscripts of the Law of Moses and the Prophets through the centuries (Dt. 31:26; 1 Sam. 10:25; 2 Ki. 23:24; Neh. 9:14, 26-30); Dan. 9:2, 6, 13).

Second, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide evidence of this extraordinary preservation. For example, the book of Isaiah – discovered in its entirety within the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls that date from 125 B.C. to 100 B.C. – contained the same Isaiah text we possess in our Bibles today.

The same can be said about the inspiration and inerrancy of the New Testament, which was written after Jesus ascended to heaven. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles in writing the content of the New Testament (Jn. 14:25-26). The Holy Spirit superintended the revelation the apostles wrote, providing the New Testament’s content and accuracy.

How each book was selected to be in the New Testament canon?

In light of the fact that there are over 5000 Greek manuscripts, some 9000 versions and translations, the evidence for the integrity of the New Testament is beyond question… Thus, the New Testament has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a much purer form than any other great book, whether or not they are sacred works, a form that is over 99 percent pure.

Over the centuries, both the Old and New Testaments having undergone extensive microscopic analysis conducted by renowned scholars who specialize in biblical history, literature, grammar, and archaeology. Although some textual critics have pointed out what they consider discrepancies, errors and contradictions within the Bible, centuries of careful analyses have never conclusively proven the Bible text to be in error. While variant readings exist within the copies, they are minor and relate to spelling and word order. They affect no major doctrine of Scripture.

Keeping Up with False Teaching

Throughout history God sounded the alarm to His people to be on guard for false teachers. The Torah warns of false prophets (Dt. 18:20-22). The Gospels warn of wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing (Mt. 7:15), and the Epistles warn of false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1-3). False teaching brings confusion to the body and can keep people from the truth of the gospel message. Catholics who read the Bible regularly know these predictions are wrong. Why? Because Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Mt. 24:36).

Why we call Bible the best book in the world? To have 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years write a unified book without error or contradiction is unique indeed in both ancient and modern history.

Please Read What Good Does Reading The Bible Do?

The Douay Rheims (Rev. Fr. Haydock) clearly explains the revealed mysteries of divine truth; most Popes have recommended that this is the only Bible where you will find the answers to doubts in the footnotes. This Bible is the only most accurate than any modern bible. The Douay Rheims is based on the Vulgate, which in turn is based on ancient texts no longer extant which were “captured” and frozen so to speak, by St. Jerome in his Latin Vulgate.

- – - written by Capt. Mervin John Lobo