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Book Preview

Hope Walked In

Hope Walked In is an accumulation of short stories improvised from the Bible and life.

The preview is Chapter One, titled-  

Rock On

It’s an ordinary rock.
Larger than a pebble, smaller than a cobblestone, it weighs 7 grams. Its texture is corduroy rough. White speckles overlap its black background, giving the rock a dirty, grayish hue. At one angle, it resembles a tiny baby shoe. Twist it around, and it looks like the State of Indiana. It’s just an ordinary rock that would go unnoticed in a bed of them. A rock among billions of rocks. Hardly anything to get excited about.
A friend gave me this rock as a souvenir from her last vacation. A rock as a souvenir? Sounds silly, huh? Before you conclude its silliness, my daughter and I have a ritual of exchanging rocks from our travels. I have given her rocks from as far as Honduras and Zimbabwe, and some of her rocks came from a beach in New York and the Bahamas, which I have never visited.
A rock is a rock. It’s hardly anything to get excited about unless you know where it comes from. Unless it has value. Unless it has a history. When my friend handed me this rock, I thought, “How did she know about my daughter and me?”
I must have had a quizzical expression because my friend said, “I picked this up from the Sea of Galilee. It’s not much, but I thought you would like it.”
The Sea of Galilee! Where Jesus walked! Possibly, this rock was close by when Jesus first approached Simon and Peter. Did it witness Him saying, “I will make you fishers of men?” Perhaps it was near Jesus’ foot when He fed the five thousand. Possibly, it laid on the shoreline as Jesus’s first step pushed off the shoreline, and His next steps remained on the water’s surface. There’s a probability that Jesus or one of his disciples stood on it, kicked it, or tossed it into the Sea of Galilee while daydreaming. This I know; it was lying on the coastline, waiting for my friend to pick it up and give it to me.
This rock became different. It was no longer just a “simple rock” but a rock with a connection to the most influential person in history: Jesus!
Did the rock change? Nope. But my belief about it did. It now has a spiritual meaning. And if I believe she picked it up at the Sea of Galilee and not her backyard, it will always have meaning.
What we believe in, we live in.
Depending on the version, belief is in the New Testament of the Bible over 45 times and the word faith over 200 times. When Jesus healed the blind, the deaf, the bleeding, or the disabled, He referred to one’s belief or faith as the catalyst for the miraculous change.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come.” The rock became new once I believed it came from the Sea of Galilee. Once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become new, but only if we believe it to be true, and it shows through our behavior. For if we don’t live as we say, do we believe? James says no. He says, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26. Underlining mine.)
The belief within itself is not enough to create change. Belief is only the mental energy it can change. Unless we put belief into action, it will only be a concept, not truth. Belief is the mental blueprint of the spiritual realm (we can’t see, touch, feel, taste, or hear belief, so it must be from the supernatural). Faith is creating the blueprint for the natural realm. Belief in something will not make it happen unless we act upon it.
Example: walking down the street on a wintry day, you encounter a shirtless man. You offer him your coat and ask if he believes it will keep him warm, and he answers yes. So, you hand him your jacket, but he never wears it and soon becomes frostbitten. Why? Because he doesn’t wear the coat. Putting on the coat is faith in action. So, true faith is acting upon what you believe to be true.

Rocks are ageless. After God separated the water from the vastness, He created the land on the third day. Rocks have been around since that third day. God made them tough and rugged. They stay around. My friend is truthful; I believe the small rock I hold in my hand was once where Jesus walked on the shores of Galilee.

Could you imagine the stories this rock could share if it could talk? All the exploits of Jesus and His disciples from an eyewitness point of view; more fish than the disciples’ nets could hold, twice. A storm Jesus calmed at the sound of His voice. Or maybe it lay where Jesus increased a snack of bread and fish into a buffet. Or when Peter stepped out of a floating boat. Oh, the tales this rock could tell!
Wait, we have that already!

It’s called the Bible.
But only if we believe.

 

The following article is edited from GotQuestions.org: Why should I believe the Bible?

   The Bible makes claims about the creation of the universe, the nature of the God who created the universe and reigns supremely over it, and the fate of humanity. If these claims are valid, then the Bible is the most essential book in humankind's history. If the Bible is true, it answers life’s biggest questions: “From where did I come?” “Why am I here?” and “What happens to me when I die?”
   The writers of the Bible claim that the Bible is God’s very Word. The apostle Paul writes that “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). That is to say, all the words recorded in the original writing of Scripture originated from the mouth of God before ever reaching the minds and pens of the biblical writers. That is, the Holy Spirit directed the writing of Scripture. The Bible does not originate with man and is, then, a product of God and carries the authority of God.
   The internal evidence of Scripture’s accuracy provides many compelling arguments for why one should believe the Bible. First, the unique message of the Bible sets it apart from other religious texts. The Bible, for instance, teaches that humanity is inherently sinful and deserving of eternal death. If man were responsible for the content of the Bible, the view of humanity would not be so dark—we tend to make ourselves look good. The Bible also teaches that humans can do nothing of themselves to remedy their natural state. This view also goes against human pride.
   The unity of the biblical message is another reason to believe in the Bible. The Bible was written for approximately 1,550 years, with at least 40 human writers, most of whom did not know each other and were from varying backgrounds (king, fisherman, tax collector, shepherd, etc.). They wrote the Bible in various environments (desert, prison, royal court, etc.). Three different languages were used to write the Bible, and despite covering controversial subjects, it carries one harmonious message. The circumstances surrounding the writing of the Bible would seem to guarantee its flaw, and yet, the message from Genesis to Revelation is uncannily consistent.
   Another reason why one should believe the Bible is its accuracy. The Bible should not be confused with a science textbook, but that does not mean that the Bible does not speak to scientific issues. The water cycle was described in Scripture centuries before it was a scientific discovery. In some cases, science and the Bible seem to be at odds with each other. Yet, when science advanced, scientific theories proved wrong, and the Bible proved right. For example, it used to be standard medical practice to bleed patients as a cure for illness. Many people died because of excessive blood loss. Now, medical professionals know that bloodletting is counterproductive as a cure for most diseases. The Bible always taught that “the life of a creature is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11).
   The Bible’s truth claims concerning world history have also been verified. Skeptics used to criticize the Bible for mentioning the Hittite people (e.g., 2 Kings 7:6). The lack of archaeological evidence to support the existence of a Hittite culture was often cited as a rebuttal against Scripture. In 1876, however, archaeologists discovered evidence of the Hittite nation, and by the early 20th century, the vastness of the Hittite nation and its influence in the ancient world was common knowledge.
   The scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible is valuable evidence of the Bible’s trustworthiness, but the Bible also contains fulfilled prophecies. Some of the biblical writers made claims about future events centuries in advance. It would be astounding if one event predicted occurred. But the Bible contains many prophecies. Some of the predictions were fulfilled quickly (Abraham and Sarah had a son, Peter denied Jesus three times, Paul was a witness for Jesus in Rome, etc.). Other predictions became fact hundreds of years later. One person could not have reasonably fulfilled the 300 messianic prophecies Jesus did unless it involved a greater power. Specific prophecies like Jesus’ birthplace, activities, manner of death, and resurrection demonstrate the accuracy of Scripture.
   When tested, the Bible proved its self true in every area. Its truth extends to the spiritual, as well. That means that when the Bible says the Hittite nation existed, then we can believe that there were Hittites, and when the Bible teaches that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23) and the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), then we need to believe that, too. The Bible tells us that “God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) and that “whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16), then we can and should believe that, also.

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