Issue 1586 – Uncountable – October 28, 2024
Many times, I have been blessed to see murmurations of blackbirds. The blackbirds flock up in uncountable numbers and seem to fill the skies when they take to the air. Their acrobatics are breathtaking.
Other times, I have stood watching flocks of geese fly northwards using one of their great flyways. Standing on the shores of Beaverhill Lake in Alberta, my friends and I watched the skies fill from horizon to horizon with flocks of geese, and it carried on that way for many hours. Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions of geese? I have no idea, but way more than we could ever count.
Birds aren’t the only things that come in seemingly uncountable numbers. Once, vast herds of buffalo (bison) covered the prairies. Knock over a giant anthill and try to count the ants that pour out.
It happens in religious circles as well. There seem to be more ways claiming to be the path to God than I can count. There are more so-called gods than we can imagine.
There are major religions that are monotheistic, polytheistic, and pantheistic, and it can quickly get overwhelming. One source said that the Hindu faith alone has nearly 30 million deities.
The three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, each claim to have one god and to be the exclusive path.
All these claims cannot be valid. Many opt to combine snippets of various faiths into their unique form of spirituality. They typically subscribe to it with some form of faith, but it is ultimately empty.
As much as we’d like to believe it, sincerity of faith isn’t the measure of truth. You can be sincerely wrong about many things. You don’t have true hope if your faith isn’t in the right god.
Christianity makes exclusive claims which can’t be ignored. Jesus said…
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:1-14
Jesus claims to both be God and the only path to God. Jesus’ claims are bold, exclusive claims that cannot be ignored. They cannot be made to fit into any other system of religion.
If they are true, then every other system is false and leads to condemnation. If they are false, then we don’t have to pay any attention to Him.
The proof of His claims comes in fulfilled prophecy, historical evidence of His death and resurrection, and in the transformed lives of His followers.
Don’t succumb to the temptation to make your faith in Jesus and/or something else. The Christian faith is Jesus. Our salvation is grounded in repentant faith in His grace alone.
There are many things beyond the number, but there is only one true Jesus. Make sure you are grounded in the truth.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
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Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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