There’s barely a person in the world that hasn’t heard the story of Adam and Eve: The planet’s first man and woman are told by God that they can eat from any tree in the newly-created world, except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Along comes the evil snake who manages to convince Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit and voila – the world is plunged into a state of chaos, death and destruction that it still hasn’t recovered from. That’s the basic story – but as our deeper Jewish sources teach us, there is far more going on here than meets the eye. The Jewish mystic Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai famously wrote a whole book discussing the 70 hidden meanings that were contained in the word ‘Bereishit’ (lit: in the beginning), the first word in the Torah, alone. So what’s the real story behind Adam and Eve, and what lessons can we learn from it today?

• Adam’s Sin

The first surprise: we’re all to blame for Adam’s sin. Jewish sources explain that Adam, the first man, contained the souls of every man, woman and child who’d come after him – currently seven billion odd people. Now, here’s the thing: before chowing down on the forbidden fruit, Adam held an internal debate with all the souls he contained to see whether they wanted him to eat it, or not.

• Forbidden Fruit

The second surprise: Adam thought he’d be making God happy by eating the forbidden fruit. It’s hard to believe, but the main reason Adam et al wanted to eat the fruit is precisely because they knew it
would make the world a much harder place for humanity to live in. Sure, they were living in the Garden of Eden, with no war, no illness, abundant food, peace, happiness – in short, paradise on earth – but Adam felt like life was a bit too easy. Where was the spiritual challenge, when God was literally giving him everything on a plate? Adam decided that he wanted to show God that he was a serious spiritual striver, willing to serve God in even the most difficult and dark circumstances. Bizarrely, he thought that would make God really happy, but as he found out afterward, he completely miscalculated.

• The Original Snake

The third surprise: The original snake had legs and could talk. God stripped the snake of its legs as part of its punishment for enticing Eve to sin, but that first snake was nothing like the slithering suckers we’ve got these days. First of all, it could talk. Second, it walked upright, and it looked far more like a human being than a reptile. And lastly, it was the embodiment of evil in the world. Standing up to something that cunning, that clever and that calculating was no easy feat. It’s main bargaining chip was that if Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then they’d stop being innocent no-nothings, and they’d be just like God. The human ego being what it is, that argument proved irresistible, and you know the rest of the story.

• Fallout from the Original Sin

The fourth surprise: We’re still trying to fix the fallout from the original sin, even today. Again, we
have to go a bit deeper to understand what exactly it is that humanity still needs to fix, but in a nutshell, you can sum it up like this: human arrogance, and thinking that we know better than God. God didn’t want to create a world where people suffer, and where our spiritual essence and Divine connection would be covered over by so many layers of physicality and materialism that millions of people would forget they even had a soul in the first place. God created the world, and people, to give them unlimited good. He had just one rule for the first couple: don’t eat from that tree! And they (we…) blew it. They (we…) thought we knew better than God, and that we were intellectually on a par with our Creator. So how do we fix all this? In his book ‘The Garden of Knowledge’, which takes an in-depth look at what really happened back in the Garden of Eden, Rabbi Shalom Arush puts it like this: “The correction of the world depends on humility…since mutual respect, peace and harmony all stem from humility.” To put it another way, every time we accept our own limitations and try to put God more in the picture, we are taking a huge step towards fixing the original sin.


Source: Read More Religious Article From beliefnet

God is good all the time and all the time God is good, in times of trouble and hardship he is always there for us. So we should rejoice and be glad in him even when we are at peace. It’s not only that we can seek him when we get into problems but also when we are well and have strength.
Today and always I ask God to make me available for those who are in need of Him. To let you know that He listens to each and every prayer you make. I am sinner Lord that’s why ask you for forgive, I am incomplete without experiencing your presence.
Lord make me an example to those who seek you and to those who have hard time believing in you. So I ask you make me your instrument in this prayer:-

Lord, make me instrument of your peace

As for where there is hatred, I may bring love

Lord, make me instrument for where there is doubt

I may bring faith in the hearts of your folks

Lord give me strength to praise and worship loud your name

As I walk down the streets full of despair I may bring hope to them.

Lord, give me your guidance through my passage into the darkness and hardship

And through the shadows of evils to show that you are the light to shine our souls.

Lord in this prayer I ask for your redemption and make me your instrument.

AMEN.

Watch the video below and get blessed. ( Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)



For the lord hears the prayers of all people, I therefor spread His love to all of you, may you be blessed and share this article with your family and prayer.

Beginning of the Universe - Steady State Theory Proved False

Other Attempts to Explain the Beginning of the Universe

Beginning of the Universe - Science Confirms

Scientists believe that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists. The beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself. To my point all this crap is true definitely. Everything is explainable only when you need answers to them. It's like seek and you shall find, Right!.

Anyways nothing we observe today existed prior to that exact moment. Further, it was something outside of time, outside of space, and outside of matter that caused all of this to come into existence.
The realization that our universe started, and did not always exist, brings enormous challenges to non-theistic scientists.

Scientists are certain of this Big Bang Theory. In the late 1920's, astronomer Edwin Hubble saw through his telescope that galaxies (some millions of light years away) were hurtling away from each other at fantastic speeds. This was not caused by some force thrusting them away from each other. Rather, they were still moving as a result of a primeval explosion, all from one point of origin.

In this point of origin, all the mass in the universe was compressed into a single point of infinite density...smaller than a single atom. Then in a cosmic explosion--the Big Bang--the universe came into being. Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, gives further description, "At about one-hundredth of a second, the earliest time about which we can speak with any confidence, the temperature of the universe was about a hundred thousands million (1011) degrees Centigrade. This is much hotter than in the center of even the hottest star, so hot, in fact, that none of the components of ordinary matter, molecules, or atoms, or even the nuclei of atoms, could have held together."3 He goes on, "The universe was filled with light."

This certainly goes parallels to the record, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...and God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."4 It came about not from matter, but from pronouncement. A spoken word. "Let there be light."

Looking at the sacred texts of all the major religions, only the Bible describes what scientists have since discovered: there was an explosion of light and a beginning to our universe...from outside of the universe itself. With it came the very start of space, matter and time. It was a singular starting point for everything. Over and over in the Book of Genesis is the description, "And God said...." followed by "...and it was so."

Instead, could our universe have come about through the laws of physics: such as gravity, electromagnetism, speed of light, etc.? No, because those things did not yet exist. The initial start of the universe itself produced the laws of physics and everything began without them.

A Singular Start: The Beginning of the Universe

Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion. It was literally the moment of Creation. ...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen." As stated, this conclusion is distressing to atheistic scientists. To observe a reaction and not be able to document the cause is unsettling.

Jastrow concludes, "For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."

Imagine the relief of these scientists when astronomers Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, and Fred Hoyle advanced what became known as the "steady state" universe in 1948. Their theory was that the universe was infinite in age. Thus, no creation or no cause was needed.

Continue Reading: GOD IS SCIENCE AND THE CREATOR OF UNIVERSE( PART II)

Read Also: KNOWING GOD PERSONALLY IN PDF 

Source: everystudent

Marriage can be wonderful – a husband and wife loving each other. What happens when there are problems or strife? We need a lasting source of love and forgiveness in our lives – and the only true and lasting source of love and forgiveness is God.

God Loves You

God loves you and wants you to know Him so He can fill you with peace and give you real life -- forever. "God loved the people of this world so much that He gave His only son, so that everyone who has faith in Him will have eternal life and never die." Jesus said, "I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest."

Since God planned for us to have peace and life, why are we so far from God?

We are Separated from God

Since the beginning of time, we have chosen to disobey God and go our own way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.

"All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's holiness." Sin is choosing to say or do or think things that are against God’s plan. "The result of unforgiven sin is death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord."

There is only one way to reach God.

Jesus Christ Died for our Sins

Jesus Christ is God's Son. He is the only One who can bring us back to God. Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

"There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only One who can bring us to God." "Christ died once for our sins. An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God."

God has provided the only way – we must make the choice.

We Must Receive Christ

We must trust Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and receive Him as our Savior and serve Him as our Lord. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believed on His name."

Would you like to give your life over to Jesus Christ right now? If so, you can pray the following prayer and accept Jesus as your Savior:

Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God. So now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Did you pray this prayer and ask Jesus into your life?

God's love is so pure and genuine, for He doesn't choose sides and giving you a free will of of living a pure life too. For many years i live my life in shadows of evil and accepting the facts. Then one day I chose to be happy and have freedom of my soul. It wasn't easy at the beginning as I kept asking myself questions that one can't get answers for them but then I just made the choice to believe in God. I would love to share with you the following first step as to ways of Living God's Way. It's very inspirational from my favorite site (biblicalcounselinginsights) for enlightening me. I will post more steps in my upcomiNg articles.

Are you living life God’s way, or your own way? Do you know how God defines “successful living”? Are you letting God have His way in your life? God changes people from the inside out. It all begins with heart change that leads to personal transformation, which makes it possible to have healthy relationships.

Heart Change

Find New Life in Christ

Have you ever met a man who attracts all eyes, wherever he goes? Some mysterious, indefinable characteristics distinguish it from others. Well, that was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ. But it was not just the personality of Jesus that captivated his audience. The witnesses of his words and his life tell us that Jesus of Nazareth was different from other men.

The only skill that Jesus could claim was his own person. He did not write a book, nor commanded an army, nor exercised a political mandate, nor possessed any land. He mainly traveled a distance of 160 kilometers from his village, attracting crowds amazed by his provocative words and his astounding acts.


Yet the greatness of Jesus was evident to all who saw and heard it. And while most great men eventually fade away to appear only in story books, Jesus is still the fundamental theme of thousands of books and unparalleled public controversies. And most of these controversies focus on the radical claims Jesus made concerning his own person-claims that have impressed both his followers and his opponents.

It was essentially the very special claims of Jesus that led him to be regarded as a threat both by the Roman authorities and by the Jewish hierarchy. Though uninitiated, without title or political support, Jesus, in the space of three years, changed the world for the next 20 centuries. Other moral and religious leaders have created an impact-but nothing comparable to that of the son of an unknown Nazareth carpenter.

What was different with Jesus Christ? Was he simply a great man, or was he much more?

These questions are finally summed up in one: Who was Jesus really? Some believe that it merely represented a great teaching of moral principles; Others think he was only the leader of the greatest religion in the world. But many have convictions that go far beyond those. Christians believe that God has indeed come to visit us in human form. And they believe the evidence.

After careful study of Jesus' life and words, CS Lewis, a former skeptic and Cambridge professor, came to an astonishing conclusion about him, which shook the rest of his life. So who is the true Jesus? Many will answer that Jesus was a great teacher of moral principles. We will take a closer look at the most controversial person in the world and, to begin with, we will ask ourselves this question: Could Jesus only have been a great teacher of moral principles?

CREDIT:y-jesus.org