Gaia Space Telescope plots a billion stars!

Gaia Space Telescope plots a billion stars!

Gaia is a space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA) designed for astrometry. The mission aims to construct the largest and most precise 3D space catalog ever made and totalling approximately 1 billion astronomical objects, mainly stars but also planets, comets, asteroids and quasars among others. The spacecraft will monitor each of its target stars about 70 times over a period of five years to study the precise motion of each star relative to the Milky Way galaxy. This will involve approximately 1% of the Milky Way population with stars brighter than 20 G magnitude. Additionally Gaia is expected to detect thousands to tens of thousands of Jupiter-sized exoplanets beyond the Solar System,^[12] 500,000 quasars and tens of thousands of new asteroids and comets within the Solar System.^[13][14][15]

(Source - wikipedia)

The latest predictions are that there are far more planets in the Universe than we ever imagined! I find this just one more amazing confirmation that what the Bible says is true.

In Genesis 1:16 when God was describing the order of creation it says 'he made the stars also'. It almost sounds like a throw away comment. The vastness of the universe is celebrated and stated often in the Holy Scriptures. For instance when God was promising to Abraham a large family and a great nation he illustrates the enormity of his descendants by comparing them to the number of stars that are in the Universe. Look at this passage:

Genesis 15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue[a] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[b]shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

For a long time we didn't understand the vastness of the universe but God did state that we could not number the stars! As technology has developed and stronger telescopes have been developed we have discovered that what the Bible said is true. 

There are many facts that are found in the Bible which at one stage we could not prove to be right or wrong. As technologies have develop we have discovered that what the Bible said long ago is actually true.

If you want to check some other examples look at what the Bible says about the following;

1. The life giving qualities of blood (Leviticus 17)
2. The earth is a sphere (Isaiah 40:22)
3. The water hydrological cycle
4. Paths in seas and oceans (Psalm 8)
5. Air currents 

So list goes on!

The question is - does this make you take God's word seriously or do you just dismiss it and ignore it? 

Abrams believed the Lord and the result was his relationship with God was established on reverence for and trust in God. 

For more details about how to become a Christian please read more of these blogs.

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

What is the truth?

The concept of truth has clearly fallen on hard times.

Pilate posed one of the most profound and eternally significant questions in the Bible. He asked Jesus in His final hour, “What is truth?” It was a cynical response to what Jesus had just revealed: “I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.” Two thousand years later, the whole world breathes Pilate’s cynicism, with good cause.

So, what is truth?

Here’s a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth.

The Old Testament refers to the Almighty as the “God of truth” (Deut. 32:4; Ps. 31:5; Is. 65:16). When Jesus said of Himself, “I am...the truth” (John 14:6), He was making a profound claim about His own deity. He was also making it clear that all truth must ultimately be defined in terms of God and His eternal glory. After all, Jesus is “the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). He is truth incarnate—the perfect expression of God and therefore the absolute embodiment of all that is true.

Jesus also said that the written Word of God is truth. It does not merely contain nuggets of truth; it is pure and unchangeable truth that (according to Jesus) “cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

Of course, there cannot be any difference between the written Word of God (the Bible) and the incarnate Word of God (Jesus). In the first place, truth by definition cannot contradict itself. Second, the Bible is called “the word of Christ” (Col. 3:16). It is His message, His self-expression. In other words, the truth of Christ and the truth of the Bible are of the very same character. They are in perfect agreement in every respect. Both are equally true. God has revealed Himself to humanity through The Bible and through His Son. Both perfectly embody the essence of what truth is.

The Bible also says God reveals basic truth about Himself in nature. The heavens declare His glory (Ps. 19:1). His other invisible attributes (such as His wisdom, power, and beauty) are on constant display in what He has created (Rom. 1:20). Knowledge of Him is inborn in the human heart (Rom. 1:19), and a sense of the moral character and loftiness of His law is implicit in every human conscience (Rom. 2:15).

Those things are universally self-evident truths. According to Romans 1:20, denial of the spiritual truths we know innately always involves a deliberate and culpable unbelief. And for those who wonder whether basic truths about God and His moral standards really are stamped on the human heart, ample proof can be found in the long history of human law and religion. To suppress this truth is to dishonour God, displace His glory, and incur His wrath (vv. 19-20).

Still, the only infallible interpreter of what we see in nature or know innately in our own consciences is the explicit revelation of The Bible. Since the Bible is also the one place where we are given the way of salvation, entrance into the kingdom of God, and an infallible account of Christ, the Bible is the touchstone to which all truth claims should be brought and by which all other truth must finally be measured.

Truth also means nothing apart from God. Truth cannot be adequately explained, recognized, understood, or defined without God as the source. Since He alone is eternal and self-existent and He alone is the Creator of all else, He is the fountain of all truth.

There are serious moral implications whenever someone tries to dissociate truth from the knowledge of God. Abandon a biblical definition of truth, and unrighteousness is the inescapable result. We see it happening before our eyes in every corner of contemporary society. What we see today is a fulfillment of what Romans chapter 1 says always happens when a society denies and suppresses the essential connection between God and truth.

Truth is not subjective, it is not a consensual cultural construct, and it is not an invalid, outdated, irrelevant concept. Truth is the self-expression of God. Truth is thus theological; it is the reality God has created and defined, and over which He rules. Truth is therefore a moral issue for every human being.

How each person responds to the truth God has revealed is an issue of eternal significance. To reject and rebel against Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, results in darkness, folly, sin, judgment, and the never-ending wrath of God. To accept and submit to Jesus Christ is experience the forgiveness and blessing of God, to know with certainty, and to find life everlasting.

Written by a Guest Blogger for Seek the Truth Bible Media Podcasts

Refresher - why I blog

Thanks for reading this Blog. My aim in blogging is to reflect, with you, on lessons that we can learn from some of the things that are going on in life, the world around us and to demonstrate how the Bible relates to all of this. 

How to find peace in a troubled world? Special meetings in Liverpool.

Come to Crete Hall, Donaldson Street, Liverpool, L5 1UY any night for the next two weeks to find out. Sundays at 5 pm, Monday to Thursday at 7.30 pm

This is the most amazing message known to humanity.

John 14King James Version (KJV)

14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain