Let God arise.  I must allow God to arise in the midst of my circumstances.  Psalm 68:1:

Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

I am the only one that can stop God from arising in my life.  Nothing in the universe—not a spouse, a job, finances, health, or even Satan and the entire host of hell—nothing can stop God’s blessings in my personal circumstances, only I can do that.

When your sins are under the blood and you have surrendered unto Christ, then your steps are ordered by the Lord.  The circumstances in the lives of the BORN AGAIN have been ordered by our Father, and by commandment, they must work together for our good. 

🕇 Psalm 37:23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

🕇 Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

The only entity in my life’s circumstances that can stop God’s blessings is me.  I AM THE PROBLEM!  I am the architect of my own misery, and no one else.  FIX IT NOW!

There are two ways that God can be blocked from arising in my darkness:

1. DISOBEDIENCE: I have failed at a very elementary level.  I Thessalonians 5:18:

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

In EVERY THING give thanks—especially the darkest spots. 

2. UNBELIEF:  I have not believed that my steps have been ordered and all things are working to my good—and that is obvious by the confession of my own mouth.

It’s embarrassing!  FIX IT!

Dear visitor, have you yet to be BORN AGAIN—born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God—as Jesus declares in John 3:3?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Will today be the day you let God arise in your life? In just a moment, I will invite you to follow me in a simple prompt, and if you follow from your heart, you will participate in the greatest miracle man can know.  Today, all of your sin and shame will be washed away by Christ’s cleansing blood.  You will be completely clean.   Today, all of the devil’s bondages in your life will be entirely broken.  You will be free.  Today, you will be BORN AGAIN!  Here is the simple prompt I promised: Click onto Further with Jesus for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Genesis 1:6-8:

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

GOD SAID, Exodus 20:11:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 11:6:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

MAN SAID: Religion is the “opiate of the people!”—and stupid people at that.  God didn’t make man; man made God!  Excuse me.  … Wait, what did you say, doctor?!  I have two weeks to live?! Oh, God, save me!  Save me! 

Now THE RECORD:  Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature 1223 that will once again certify the supernatural veracity of God’s beautiful Book, the majority-text Holy Bible.  All of these Word-centric features are archived here in text and streaming audio for your edification and to be used as bait for the fishers of men.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one.

Thank you for visiting.  We are honored by your presence.  May God’s Light and Love shine upon you and your house.

It wasn’t IQ.  It wasn’t scholarship.  It wasn’t wealth.  It wasn’t good looks or athletic ability.  It wasn’t power, nor was it armies.  No, all of these things rise and fall at a regular and very predictable rate, or simply disappear.  God didn’t choose any of these temporary, fleeting attributes. He chose faith.  Hebrews 11:6:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  

It was Adam and Eve’s faith in God’s Word alone that secured their home in Paradise and their original immortality.  When Adam opened his eyes for the first time, he had no idea of what had transpired on the days preceding his creation.  His understanding of prior events was comprised of what God had told him.  Grandmother Eve was made from Adam’s rib. When she opened her eyes for the first time, she had no understanding of what had transpired on the days preceding her creation.  Her understanding of prior events was comprised of what God and Adam had told her.  When unbelief in God’s Word was embraced by our grandparents, paradise and immortality were lost to them and their progeny.  The very definition of sin is given in Romans 14:23:

…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.   

When one’s quest for knowledge begins in unbelief rather than faith in God’s Word, wildly different conclusions must be expected, and the glaring contrast will be on full display in the linked articles.  Each feature in this series will lead with the following paragraphs:

According to a 2006 issue of Discover magazine concerning the deceased Carl Sagan: “Sagan approaches religion like any phenomenon.  He isn’t on a quest for life’s meaning, for a comforting philosophy, or even a guide to how we should treat the neighbors.  Sagan seeks truth of a demonstrable kind.  As a puckish example, he wonders why the book of Genesis didn’t include God-inspired truths…” [End of quote]

I recently reviewed an advertisement from a magazine called Free Inquiry that also has a problem with the God of Creation and the first book of the Bible, called Genesis.  Under the heading “Is God Big Enough for the Universe,” Free Inquiry writes:

The authors of Genesis proclaim that God made the heavens and earth in less than a week.  This feat must have amazed these Bronze Age authors, even though they thought the heavens extended only so far as the sky above them.  Of course, they did not know what stars, planets, or galaxies were.  We now know that the universe is so much bigger and so much more complex. [End of quote]

The BORN AGAIN scratch their heads in bewilderment.  Did these folks actually read the book of Genesis? I suppose they did, but God’s revelation is only revealed to the humbled hearts of the children of faith.  This GodSaidManSaid series will be called “The Genesis Series.”  It is our intention to travel through the entire book of Genesis and publish one major God-inspired truth after another.  We will be pulling from previous GodSaidManSaid features and adding the latest information as we go.

Genesis 1:6-8:

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  

During the 1,656 years preceding the global flood in the days of Noah, things were dramatically different than they are today and one of the major differences was a water canopy that existed above the sky or firmament:

Firmament is heaven or space. There are three heavens. The space around us and the sky make up the first heaven. Outer space, with the planets, etc., is the second heaven. The third heaven is where God dwells (II Corinthians 12:2-5). God separated the water into two bodies by firmament. One body was under the firmament, covering the earth. The other body of water was above the firmament (sky). Thus, earth had two bodies of water separated by space or firmament. It is important to note that prior to the flood of Noah there is no record of rain.

Genesis 2:5-6:

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

God watered the earth with a mist. The first record of rain is in the days of Noah when God opened the windows of heaven. Note that the token of the covenant God gave to Noah, which assured Noah that He would not destroy the whole earth again by a flood, was a rainbow. A rainbow appears to be something Noah had never seen before. The ancient civilizations of Babylon, Egypt, Greece, India, Hawaii, Indonesia, Europe, Asia, and Australia testify of a water canopy above the firmament. In the 1850s, British archaeologists found about 20,000 clay tablets in the ruins of a library excavated in Nineveh. It’s important to remember that these people were not adherents to the Bible. Among these were 12 tablets with astonishing text. The 12 ancient tablets, known as the Epic of Gilgamesh, described the destruction of the earth by a flood extremely similar to the Bible’s record in Genesis. Other ancient civilizations tell a very similar story.

The water canopy was rained down upon the earth. According to some scientists, a water canopy of that magnitude would have had very powerful benefits. One benefit would have been a greenhouse effect, making the whole world tropical. For example, if you had a greenhouse, you could have tropical temperatures inside and frigid temperatures outside. So then the water canopy God describes in Genesis would have provided a balmy tropical temperature as one of its benefits, and it would have encompassed the globe. Every day would have featured a beautiful, rainless, cloudless, postcard sky. However, immediately after God opened the windows of heaven and rained down that water canopy, the greenhouse effect ended and the north and south poles went into an immediate, deep freeze. According to an AP science writer, and I quote, ’The frigid Arctic regions were as balmy as present-day Florida some 90 million years ago according to researchers who found fossils in northern Canada of a crocodile-like animal.

The AP science writer was only half right. Balmy temperatures, yes. Ninety million years ago, no.

In a book titled, The Waters Above, by author J. C. Dillow, the following excerpts were found:

Baron Toll, the Arctic explorer, found remains of a saber-toothed tiger and a 90-foot plum tree with green leaves and ripe fruit on its branches over 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the New Siberian Islands. Today, the only vegetation that grows there is a one-inch high willow. [End of quote]

And again Dillow reports:

Dr. Jack A. Wolfe in a U. S. Geological Survey Report (1978) told that Alaska once teemed with tropical plants. He found evidence of mangroves, palm trees, Burmese lacquer trees, and groups of trees that now produce nutmeg and Macassar oil. [End of quote]

In northern Siberia and Alaska, there are an estimated 5,000,000 elephant-like mammoths killed by a flood and frozen in ice and permafrost.

Kellog, an expert on ancient civilizations, recounts their record which tells of a visible water heaven that was titillating with light. These ancient civilizations claimed this water heaven was home of the gods and that it obstructed the power of the sun god. One day, this water heaven was banished and cast down to the earth, after which the sun came riding through as the conqueror of heaven, the master of the wind and rain. Until the worldwide flood that took place in the days of Noah, approximately 4,350 years ago, there was a water canopy above the firmament which made the climate very balmy. Every day was a beautiful, cloudless, postcard sky.

Another major benefit of this global water canopy was the filtering of ultraviolet killer rays from the sun as well as other sun-related detriments. Ultraviolet radiation is a contributing factor for at least 60 major diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, strokes, Alzheimer’s, Down syndrome, mental loss and arteriosclerosis, just to name a few.

A scientist recently offered his solution to the scientific community for the deadly effects astronauts experience from prolonged bombardment by UV rays. His solution: five feet of water all around their habitation.

Many of God’s critics, being willingly unaware of the benefits of the water canopy, have ridiculed the tremendously long lives of those who lived before Noah’s flood, before the end of the water canopy. Methuselah, the oldest Bible man who ever lived, reached the ancient age of 969 years. The average pre-Noah lifespan was 912 years, or 13 times longer than we live today. Imagine living in a perfect tropical atmosphere: perfect air, perfect water, perfect diet, without harmful effects from the sun. The obvious result would be a long, long, healthy life — 13 times longer. The famed historian, Flavius Josephus, who wrote just after Christ’s life here on the earth, recorded the life span of the ancients reaching up to 1,000 years. He refers directly to ancient historians such as Manetho, Berosus, Mockus, Hestiaeus, Hieronymus, Hesiod, Hecataeus, Hellanicus, Acusilaus, Ephorus, and Nicolaus, who attest to these phenomenal life spans.

The pre-Noah water canopy is central to the explanation of what has perplexed many about the idea of a young, 6,000-year-old earth and what happened to the dinosaurs.

The dinosaur is a reptile and it does something that we can’t do: it never stops growing. In ’A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians,’ which is part of the Peterson Field Guide Series, sponsored by the National Audubon Society and National Wildlife Federation, I found the following statement:

Size: Reptiles and amphibians may continue to grow as long as they live, rapidly at first but more slowly after maturity. Hence, giant specimens may be encountered on very rare occasions. [End of quote]

The older it is, the bigger it gets. Note, before the water canopy was eliminated, the average lifespan was 13 times longer than it is today. Remember, the air was pure, the water clean, and diet near perfect. There were no harmful rays from the sun and the lifespan was 13 times longer. Consider the present-day Chinese Iguana that grows as large as 12 feet long. Suppose before the flood, in a near perfect environment, the iguana would have lived 13 times longer, and because it never stops growing, would become 13 times bigger. That Chinese Iguana would be 156 feet long and about three stories tall. Dinosaur — terrible lizard. The dinosaur is simply a giant lizard which was created by God in the same six-day span as man. [End of quotes]

It's true: The reptile never stops growing, fast at first and slower as it ages.  This is not a perfect example, but it elucidates the point of pre-flood life.

Watch the water canopy at work.  The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters of the Bible Found:”

 If men lived an average pre-flood life of 912 years, or basically 13 times longer than we do today (and they certainly did), then much of the world’s knowledge that rejects this Biblical record would have a very distorted view of reality (and it certainly does).  Just one point will be briefly discussed to illustrate:

Neanderthal Man: The Neanderthal is showcased by Darwinian scientists as an evolutionary progression to today’s modern man.  The following excerpt is from the GodSaidManSaid feature “Adam Was To Live Forever:”

...tremendously long pre-flood life spans answer many questions.  Consider Neanderthal man, one of the evolutionists’ supposed links between ape and man.  Because pseudo-science has rejected the Bible and the creation model, the following truth has escaped the followers of pseudo-science.  A.L. Gillen writes in his book, Body By Design, the following:

Dr. Jack Cuozzo, a research orthodontist for over 30 years, in his book Buried Alive, explains Neanderthal man's skeletons.  His studies show that the human head does not stop growing as we age.  Contrasting the measurements of people’s heads when they were 19, in their late forties, and some at age 80, he discovered that the head changed in the following manner: 1) the brow ridge came forward; 2) the jaw came forward; 3) the nose got bigger; 4) the chin came forward; 5) the cheeks came forward and flattened out; 6) the teeth came forward; 7) the back of the head started to point out.

Think of a baby’s soft head.  It is fashioned with cartilage as well as bone.  Our skull gradually changes over time from fetus to infant to adolescent to adult.  This has been known for some time.  But more recently Dr. Jack Cuozzo has found that our skull continues to change in our old age, and assuming man could live to 150, 200, 300, or even 500 years of age, this pattern of change would produce an individual that looked remarkably like Neanderthal man.  [End of quote]

Dr. Henry M. Morris, founder of the world-renowned Institute for Creation Research, made these remarks regarding the pre-flood water canopy in his commentary in The Henry Morris Study Bible:

Such a vapor canopy would undoubtedly have provided a highly efficient “greenhouse effect,” assuring a perennial springlike climate for the entire earth.  Water vapor both shields the earth against harmful radiations from space and also retains and spreads the incoming solar heat.  A vapor canopy would thus provide an ideal environment for abundant animal and plant life and for longevity and comfort in human life.  Water vapor is invisible, and thus would be translucent, allowing the stars to be seen through it.  This would not be the case with a liquid water or ice canopy.

1:7 above the firmament: The “waters which were above the firmament” are clearly not the clouds or the vapor which now float in the atmosphere.  The Hebrew word al definitely requires the meaning “above.”  Furthermore, the absence of rain (2:5) and the rainbow (9:13) is not only explained but required by a vapor canopy, not by an atmosphere like that of the present.  These waters extending far out into space eventually condensed and fell back to the earth at the time of the great deluge, providing the source of the worldwide rainstorm that contributed to the flood.  Although the exact extent and structure of this canopy is still being researched by computer simulation, there are no major scientific problems with the concept. [End of quote]

A global water canopy, even a global greenhouse, complete with balmy temperatures the world over and every day a beautiful postcard-perfect sky.   Secular scientists are puzzled over what they are discovering.  The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “North Pole Tropical Discovered Again:”

A flurry of news releases tout new discoveries during a 2004 drilling expedition into the floor of the Arctic Ocean. A May 31, 2006, headline from the Associated Press reads, "Scientists: Arctic Once Had Tropical Climate." The May 31, 2006, headline at Pravda.Ru reads, "55 Million Years Ago, the Arctic Was Tropical." Finally, the May 31, 2006, headline of Purdue University News reads, "North Pole’s Ancient Past Holds Clues About Future Global Warming."

The findings of a once tropical climate at the North Pole are, of course, true according to the physical evidence discovered. Incidentally, however, the assertions of millions of years are built upon the faulty assumptions of uniformitarianism, and are not science at all, but simply incorrect hypotheses.

The following excerpts are from the news releases mentioned earlier:

"Pravda.Ru:"

Scientists have found what might have been the ideal ancient vacation hotspot with a 74 degree Fahrenheit (23 degree Celsius) average temperature, alligator ancestors and palm trees. It’s smack in the middle of the Arctic. Core samples dug up from deep beneath the Arctic Ocean floor show that 55 million years ago an area near the North Pole was practically a subtropical paradise, three new studies show. [End of quote]

The following excerpts are from "Tech News World:"

Scientists already knew this "thermal event" happened but are not sure what caused it. Perhaps massive releases of methane from the ocean, the continent-sized burning of trees, lots of volcanic eruptions.

Many experts figured that while the rest of the world got really hot, the polar regions were still comfortably cooler, maybe about 52 degrees Fahrenheit.

The new research found the polar average was closer to 74 degrees, however. So instead of Boston-like weather year-round, the Arctic was more like Miami North. Way north.

"It’s the first time we’ve looked at the Arctic, and man, it was a big surprise to us," said study co-author Kathryn Moran, an oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island. "It’s a new look to how the Earth can respond to these peaks in carbon dioxide."

Purdue University News reports:

The models fail to explain another puzzling fact. The temperature difference between the North Pole and the equator today is about 45 degrees C (113° F). But the difference appears to have been much smaller during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum time frame. Otherwise, it would have been too hot for vegetation to survive in equatorial latitudes.

"We still haven’t explained why the tropics stayed cool," Huber said. "Somehow, we have to explain how you can warm the poles up to 23 degrees Celsius (73.4° F) without having the tropics rise to at least 50 degrees (122° F), which is 10 degrees too hot for plants to carry out photosynthesis."

He said the implications are troubling because current models may be providing optimistic predictions.

"Today’s models under predict how warm the poles were back then, which tells you something disturbing — that the models, if anything, aren’t sensitive enough to greenhouse gases," Huber said. "At the same time, it is possible that other forces in addition to higher- than-normal greenhouse gas concentrations were involved, otherwise we can’t explain how the tropics maintained livable conditions. [End of quote]

Scientists are flummoxed. How can this be? The answer, of course, is recorded in God’s Book (in particular Genesis). Purdue researcher Huber was on the right track when he said, "At the same time, it is possible that other forces...were involved."

Science has discovered a time when the earth was a God-created paradise. Unfortunately, for the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, it is a paradise lost. Click on to "Further With Jesus" for instructions for reentry. [End of quotes]

The world’s scientists suffer woefully from a lack of schooling (as in Sunday Schooling).  The humbled eyes of the children of faith see clearly.  Our vision is so good we can see all the way to eternity from here—and yes, we can also clearly see one God-inspired truth after another. 

GOD SAID, Genesis 1:6-8:

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

GOD SAID, Exodus 20:11:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 11:6:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

MAN SAID: Religion is the “opium of the people!”—and stupid people at that.  God didn’t make man; man made God!  Excuse me.  … Wait, what did you say, doctor?!  I have two weeks to live?! Oh, God, save me!  Save me! 

Now you have THE RECORD.

References:

Authorized King James Version

Blumner, R., Free Inquiry

GodSaidManSaid, “Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters of the Bible Found”  

GodSaidManSaid, “Dinosaurs—The Terrible Lizards”

GodSaidManSaid, “From the Very First Verse (The Genesis Series, Part 1)”

GodSaidManSaid, “North Pole Tropical Discovered Again”

Morris, H., The Henry M. Morris Study Bible, Master Books, 1995