These ten surprises in the Bible you might find shocking too.
A few years ago, I pushed all the other books I was reading to the side and purposed to read the whole Bible first. At the time I didn’t know that you can never finish reading it. After a year of Bible study and reading it all the way through the second time, I found many things that opened my eyes. Here are a few:
These are the surprises:
- That God loves EVERY person deeply.
- Which makes every person equal. Men and women. Grown folk and children. Smart and dumb. Rich and poor.
- How you treat people is directly related to the flow of blessings in your life.
- Everything you have on earth is on loan to you from God.
- The qualities of the inside are the MOST important you can have. Kindness, gentleness, self-control, love, peace, patience, joy, faithfulness, and goodness.
- Jesus does not promise a life with no difficulties.
- The only way the Bible could have been written is supernaturally.
- That the Lord used the same wisdom to create the world that He offers us on request.
- Marriage was created for God’s earthly purposes and does not exist in Heaven.
- Our lives are being recorded!
1. God Loves EVERY Person:
He would like for all of us to accept his free gift of salvation and have relationship and be with Him in Heaven.
He deeply loves even those that are broken (we’re all broken) in ways that we can see and ways that we can’t. We’re all flawed and I believe this is to help us to be humble. Each one of us has a club foot of some kind. One great weakness and/or many small ones. Even with our weaknesses, we are perfect when we walk with Him.
This surprises me because I thought that some people WERE perfect. That some of the people had less flaws and those people were easier to love.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,β says the Lord, who has compassion on you. -Isaiah 54:10
2. How You Treat People is Directly Related to the Flow of Blessings in Your Life
We all should consider how we treat others and how that treatment will make them reach out to God.
More profound than the act of giving is the act of giving people a reason to thank God. In the reverse, if you mistreat someone it could just as likely be one of God’s chosen people. If you are already a believer, then it could be one of your own spiritual brothers or sisters. We can mistreat others and block blessings in the same way. Even if it isn’t one of God’s chosen, and the person clearly is dominated by evil, then you still want to be an example to them of what it is like to be in the Kingdom.
The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. -Psalm 18:20-21
3. Every Person is Equal:
We all should consider how we treat others and how that treatment will make them reach out to God.
Certainly I got this wrong. I thought that the more intelligent were more valuable, and definitely the unsaved were less valuable. It seemed clear that some people were inherently better than others. Like child abusers would be inherently evil and therefore lower than a person without abusive traits. Or like those that have the worst circumstances vs those with what seem to be the best.
To know that all people are loved by the Most High God so deeply that we struggle to understand this kind of love is one of many lights that turned on for me. The fact that He asks us to love others the same way He loves you is a big statement of equality. That He chose to die for ALL of us is another clue. If we treat each other as eternal brothers and sisters, and our relationships as eternal, we would make different choices.
Deep in my heart of hearts I always knew that men and women are equal, but it seems such an unpopular viewpoint. Now the Bible has confirmed this for me. I found this confirmation surprising; especially with the oppression of women even inside the church.
Is He not the One who says to kings, βYou are worthless, and to nobles, βYou are wicked,β who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands? -Job 34:18-19
Then Peter began to speak: βI now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism. -Acts 10:34
4. Everything you have on earth is on loan to you from God:
There is no use in having such a strong affection for your belongings because you can’t take anything with you.
Because all that you have, even the breath in your body is a gift from God, and it is right to thank Him for all of it. Another surprise in the Bible!
The earth is the Lordβs, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; -Psalm 24:1
5. The qualities of the inside are the MOST important you can have.
- Kindness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
- Love
- Peace
- Patience
- Joy
- Faithfulness
- Goodness
But the Lord said to Samuel, βDo not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. -Samuel 16:7
Someone said if you have riches, but you have no character, then you have nothing.
The world uses the wrong checkboxes to evaluate people. My BigMama told me this when I was short, “Pretty is as pretty does”. At the time, the gravity of that statement was lost on me. I couldn’t see how the good looking were not still good looking even after they acted ugly. Now I see! It is more important and longer lasting to be pretty on the inside.
The world teaches us to look at these attributes as valuable: tall, good looking, rich, successful, well-dressed and educated. But the real value is in respect, kindness, compassion, safety, self-control, generosity, and loyalty. This is secret information for a majority of society.
6. Jesus Promised Trials and Tribulations
Not only did he promise trials and that you will be hated in this life, it is clear that His purpose is not to fix the world at all.
In fact it is crumbling all around us just as it is prophetically described in the book of Revelation. So, it is the Lord’s plan in bringing all things together for good that there will be suffering before the end of evil. This helps me tremendously to trust in His plan and to be at peace and have no anxiety at all about the wickedness of the world. We need to be tolerant of each others flaws, expect that unpleasant things will happen, and know that people who do not love the Lord will automatically have a poor reaction to you. Your Spirit irritates their demons.
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.β -John 16:33
7. The Bible is Divinely Written
The Bible has been written supernaturally.
How else could it be that twelve men wrote the same story and read each other’s stories and agreed that each version of the Truth was accurate? That is a miracle in itself. Or how could more than 40 men who mostly did not know each other, and in some instances lived centuries apart and all write a coherent story that agrees with itself? Or how can New Testament events be predicted in the Old Testament centuries before they happened? Only God could do that.
Also there are accounts of Bible famous people that are also recorded in history, but their earthly version of history does not reveal the embarrassing flaws and mistakes that the Bible reveals about them. Human nature is to leave out or “spin” the truth so that the light shines favorably on the historical person; particularly if they had power and wealth. But God tells these details in the scripture.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. -2 Timothy 3:16
8. Wisdom is Freely Given
The Lord used the same wisdom to create the world that He offers us on request.
Our Lord is so generous! For the asking we can receive the wisdom to help us:
- Make Better Decisions
- Regulate our Emotions
- Solve Problems Effectively
- Improve Relationships
- Increase Empathy Levels
- Cope with Adversity and Setbacks
- Be Content
- Influence Others Positively
- Have Long Term Perspective
- Grow and Mature
- Improve Our Health!
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. -James 1:5
9. After Life on Earth There is No Marriage
Marriage was created for God’s earthly purposes and does not exist in Heaven.
This is HUGE! We will be single in Heaven. The Lord has designed the family to expand the Kingdom on earth. It’s a pyramid designed to exponentially increase the family of believers. Which means that marriage has no purpose for those who don’t believe! And also explains how if God is out of a marriage, then it crumbles. It dies just like a fig tree. This connects so many dots for me. Let me know in the comments which of these surprises in the Bible you already knew or if you found them shocking as well.
For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven. -Matthew 22:30
10. Our Whole Lives are Being Watched AND Recorded
Since our God is all-knowing and all-seeing, it means that you have done nothing in secret.
The Lord has seen you do every single thing you have ever done and further, there is a recording of your life being made. Everything that you do for God will be eternally kept in the record. The angels are also watching us and recording every praise, prayer and deeds done for the Lord. Maybe I should have put this one first.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. -Psalm 139:16
The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. -Proverbs 15:3
All these ten surprises in the Bible I found remarkable and life altering.
Jesus also promised eternal life for all who believe in Him, that he died for our sins and has offered to pay our sin debt, to make our earthly lives peaceful, to give us a priceless gift (of the Holy Spirit) to help while we are still on earth, to open our minds to new Truths and freedom from all kinds of bondage and oppression. If you want to accept this FREE offer now (I highly recommend this), then say this prayer:
If you said that prayer, and you sincerely meant it, you are now a King’s kid. CONGRATULATIONS!! Welcome to the family! Now you need a Bible based church.
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