There is little doubt that there are challenges to get Christians beyond religious thinking into a vibrant relationship with Jesus. In some way I think it starts with a changing of the perspective of life. Is Jesus an aide to us so we can have a comfortable life here, or is Jesus the reason we live? Answering this will help us understand why people struggle in their Christianity.
Many mistakenly act as if Jesus is their "Get Out Of Jail Free" card. He is the ticket to a blissful eternal life but we get to do what we want here. Such a perspective tells us that people only know Jesus by theory and not personal relationship. Such people will struggle with trust, will be overcome by the struggles of this life and will often fail in their faith. These are those who will abandon Jesus in the storms of life. They say the right words but fail in the practical living.
Those who have entered into a relationship with Jesus have a simple understanding that they no longer live for themselves, no longer make their decisions on their own, no longer own anything and are ready to face anything trusting that Father has it all in his hands. We identify with Paul:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me."
I realize that I am stuck on this verse because I think most Christians miss it. I think most of us don't spend enough time meditating on this one single verse:
"The life I live in this body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
I no longer live. I have given up all my rights. I live to please Father. The life I now live I do so by trusting Jesus and all his promises. I live by faith.
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Not possible unless I have realized the truth of my giving myself to Jesus and accepting his sacrifice for my sins and the life he offers through the resurrection: I no longer live but Christ lives in me. We live by faith and people of faith are not overly concerned by the things of this earth. We know we are beautiful to Father and we are accepted by him.
Look at your life. Are you overly caught up in this culture? Are you overly concerned with your appearance? Are you affected by the opinions of others? Are there things you possess that you could not live without? Are you worried about your future? Are you occupied by more than just today? Are you hurt by the words of others? Or can you instead say that you no longer live but Christ lives in you; that you live what he wants; that his priorities are yours; that you are content with yourself and this life because it is all in the hands of Father?
Are you religiously minded or are you in an incredible loving relationship with Jesus? Is Jesus an aide to us so we can have a comfortable life here, or is Jesus the reason we live?
Showing posts with label 2 Corinthians 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2 Corinthians 5. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Keeping Your Eyes On The Prize
I write a lot about perspective because perspective matters. How we see the world shapes our understanding and our decision making process. We all have limitations to our perspective which means we all have limitations to our understanding. A two year old sees life much differently than a 6 foot tall adult. Someone in India is going to see life differently than someone in France. Someone who has traveled the world will see the world differently than someone who has never been outside of their hometown.
Christians need to understand that they see everything differently than those who are not in Christ. Part of our struggle is maintaining this different perspective because the perspective of the world is overwhelming. It is also difficult for those Christians who do not want to stand out but would rather just melt into the background of every day life, because our perspective makes us stand out. Remember this fact about what we have experienced:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Our values, priorities, goals, direction, purpose are all contrary to those of this world because we have a Kingdom perspective, one that is oriented to eternity and to our King. We are not self-made, self-directed, self-purposed. Ours is the perspective of a gladsome servant, happy to lay down our lives in whatever manner the King requires. Our goal is not a happy life in this place but a joyful one in eternity with our King. It was this fact that enabled Paul the apostle to write:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
I think most of us understand what Paul called "light affliction" which makes any of our days look like walks in the park. The degree of difficulty doesn't matter nor does it matter that we are free of difficulty. All that matters is that we maintain the proper perspective, "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which as not seen".
To maintain the proper perspective we need to be in the Word daily, enjoy intimate moments with Jesus, and refresh ourselves in the fellowship of believers. Do not wall yourself in from the world because it is to the world we have been sent, but neither look for support, encouragement or refreshing there. You cannot be encouraged by a contrary perspective and maintain yourself in the Lord. You cannot serve two masters. Continue to refresh your proper perspective in the Lord and keep your eyes on the prize.
Christians need to understand that they see everything differently than those who are not in Christ. Part of our struggle is maintaining this different perspective because the perspective of the world is overwhelming. It is also difficult for those Christians who do not want to stand out but would rather just melt into the background of every day life, because our perspective makes us stand out. Remember this fact about what we have experienced:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Our values, priorities, goals, direction, purpose are all contrary to those of this world because we have a Kingdom perspective, one that is oriented to eternity and to our King. We are not self-made, self-directed, self-purposed. Ours is the perspective of a gladsome servant, happy to lay down our lives in whatever manner the King requires. Our goal is not a happy life in this place but a joyful one in eternity with our King. It was this fact that enabled Paul the apostle to write:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
I think most of us understand what Paul called "light affliction" which makes any of our days look like walks in the park. The degree of difficulty doesn't matter nor does it matter that we are free of difficulty. All that matters is that we maintain the proper perspective, "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which as not seen".
To maintain the proper perspective we need to be in the Word daily, enjoy intimate moments with Jesus, and refresh ourselves in the fellowship of believers. Do not wall yourself in from the world because it is to the world we have been sent, but neither look for support, encouragement or refreshing there. You cannot be encouraged by a contrary perspective and maintain yourself in the Lord. You cannot serve two masters. Continue to refresh your proper perspective in the Lord and keep your eyes on the prize.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
The God Of Justice
We may not always appreciate it but Yahweh is the God of justice. That means that he rewards the good and punishes the bad. He doesn't fudge the lines between what is good and evil. He also does not excuse the evil for what good he may find in a person. If you lie you are evil even if you just gave a $1000 to some charity or helped an elderly lady cross the street.
Yahweh is also everywhere at once and knows everything. He doesn't just judge our actions but also our heart. He knows our motivation for doing what we do. This is wonderful when we have good intentions but not so good when the good we do comes from a wrong motivation. How can you protect or defend yourself from such a God? We cannot afford to forget he is the God of justice:
Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. (Leviticus 26:21)
Praise the Lord because he is also the God who desires restoration and reconciliation over justice. He will punish us for our rebellious ways if we do not repent but if we repent he joyfully forgives us of all things, and that grace abounds in our life going forward. We do not need to fear his punishment as we seek a deeper relationship with him and pour our love into him. We are now his and he has forgiven past, present and future. Oh, what praise is due him.
Everyone born on this planet come from the same root; all of us were enemies of Yahweh due to our sin, our rebellious ways. It is the state we were born into because man's actions warped Yahweh's plans from the very beginning. It is a state that we had no hope of escaping because our relationship with our Creator was broken and we had no means to repair it. But he did.
Our path was not a good one, heading toward the justice of our Creator, the judgement against our rebellion. We had no means of turning to the right or left, we did not have that power. Hell awaited us. This was not Yahweh's fault because it was we who had rebelled against him, and his character of justice demanded punishment. But his character of love, mercy, forgiveness and grace found a way to offer reconciliation to his enemies. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ he opened the door to reconciliation and restoration, but the choice was still left to us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
Jesus said that he who has been forgiven much will love much. I remind you of this because Yahweh knows our heart, our motivation, our desires. He knows if we are sincere about Jesus or just being religious. He knows if we are mocking him by using the right words while filled with evil thoughts. He knows if we are conforming to the acceptable instead of being transformed by the incredible. It matters to him, the God of justice.
Today let's examine our hearts and test ourselves to know that our love for Jesus is sincere. Let us make sure that we are not saying we are Christian to please family and friends without even knowing Jesus. Let us make sure that we are not wearing a title simply because it is what we were born into and we don't know any different. Let us make sure that we understand our history with Yahweh, who he is, what he has done for us and what he offers, so that we can make the decision to accept it and be reconciled to him. It is far better to know him as the God of mercy and grace than as the God of justice.
Yahweh is also everywhere at once and knows everything. He doesn't just judge our actions but also our heart. He knows our motivation for doing what we do. This is wonderful when we have good intentions but not so good when the good we do comes from a wrong motivation. How can you protect or defend yourself from such a God? We cannot afford to forget he is the God of justice:
Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. (Leviticus 26:21)
Praise the Lord because he is also the God who desires restoration and reconciliation over justice. He will punish us for our rebellious ways if we do not repent but if we repent he joyfully forgives us of all things, and that grace abounds in our life going forward. We do not need to fear his punishment as we seek a deeper relationship with him and pour our love into him. We are now his and he has forgiven past, present and future. Oh, what praise is due him.
Everyone born on this planet come from the same root; all of us were enemies of Yahweh due to our sin, our rebellious ways. It is the state we were born into because man's actions warped Yahweh's plans from the very beginning. It is a state that we had no hope of escaping because our relationship with our Creator was broken and we had no means to repair it. But he did.
Our path was not a good one, heading toward the justice of our Creator, the judgement against our rebellion. We had no means of turning to the right or left, we did not have that power. Hell awaited us. This was not Yahweh's fault because it was we who had rebelled against him, and his character of justice demanded punishment. But his character of love, mercy, forgiveness and grace found a way to offer reconciliation to his enemies. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ he opened the door to reconciliation and restoration, but the choice was still left to us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
Jesus said that he who has been forgiven much will love much. I remind you of this because Yahweh knows our heart, our motivation, our desires. He knows if we are sincere about Jesus or just being religious. He knows if we are mocking him by using the right words while filled with evil thoughts. He knows if we are conforming to the acceptable instead of being transformed by the incredible. It matters to him, the God of justice.
Today let's examine our hearts and test ourselves to know that our love for Jesus is sincere. Let us make sure that we are not saying we are Christian to please family and friends without even knowing Jesus. Let us make sure that we are not wearing a title simply because it is what we were born into and we don't know any different. Let us make sure that we understand our history with Yahweh, who he is, what he has done for us and what he offers, so that we can make the decision to accept it and be reconciled to him. It is far better to know him as the God of mercy and grace than as the God of justice.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
And I No Longer Live
Today I don't want to complicate anything and I don't want to point out anything that we are doing wrong. I know I get a bit heavy on some issues but we really need to be because of the dangerous direction we are moving in. But none of that today. I want to simply demonstrate the importance of meditating on the Word of God. I am going to use one verse that I was meditating on earlier. Look at the richness and the depth of a single verse from Yahweh's incredible love letter:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live."
I hung on the cross with Jesus. I was there with all my sins. The only thing that could separate me from them was death but because I was crucified with Jesus, because he took my place, I was able to die without physically dying, and this separated me from my sins. Simple and beautiful.
But I am dead. I no longer live. So now what?
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me."
Wow! So I died with Jesus and the only reason there is any life in me now is because Jesus rose from the dead and now lives in me. I can live because Jesus lives. It is more than just a promise on the Day of Resurrection, it is something that I live today, in the practical. I died but Jesus lives in me.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God."
I live by faith in Jesus. I can live because Jesus lives in me and I live in this body by this faith I have in him. That is powerful stuff. So I don't belong to myself. I most definitely belong to Jesus and I am only able to live because I have faith in him. It sure makes me want to have more faith, strong and powerful. It also makes me realize that I am not limited by what I was.
Death has separated me from everything that had defined me before. Now it is Jesus who defines me. It is Jesus who places or removes limits. It is Jesus who has given me new life. Now another verse comes roaring to mind:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
This changes perspective big time. It means I can step out of what I once was and step into what I am in the new reality of the Kingdom. I operate in Jesus' strength, power and wisdom. It might be hard to learn how to walk with these new legs but that's okay because Jesus is doing the walking, I just have to obey and allow him. But the verse isn't finished with yet:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
And there is why I can completely trust him with my death and the life he lives through me. This is why I put my faith in him with no questions, doubts or fears. He has earned my trust and I gladly give my faith. No one else has done what he has done for me with the cost that he had to pay. No one else suffered for me as he did. No one else climbed up on a cross. No one else died that I would be forgiven. No one else defeated death so that I might have life. No one. I am indebted to him and I gladly surrender to him that he might live in me so that I might live in him. May his will be done through this body of mine.
There is so much more that flows through me concerning this one verse but I leave it as I have written. But if this is where one verse can take us, how much more the entire Word of God. But it won't do anything for us if we are not meditating on it.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live."
I hung on the cross with Jesus. I was there with all my sins. The only thing that could separate me from them was death but because I was crucified with Jesus, because he took my place, I was able to die without physically dying, and this separated me from my sins. Simple and beautiful.
But I am dead. I no longer live. So now what?
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me."
Wow! So I died with Jesus and the only reason there is any life in me now is because Jesus rose from the dead and now lives in me. I can live because Jesus lives. It is more than just a promise on the Day of Resurrection, it is something that I live today, in the practical. I died but Jesus lives in me.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God."
I live by faith in Jesus. I can live because Jesus lives in me and I live in this body by this faith I have in him. That is powerful stuff. So I don't belong to myself. I most definitely belong to Jesus and I am only able to live because I have faith in him. It sure makes me want to have more faith, strong and powerful. It also makes me realize that I am not limited by what I was.
Death has separated me from everything that had defined me before. Now it is Jesus who defines me. It is Jesus who places or removes limits. It is Jesus who has given me new life. Now another verse comes roaring to mind:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
This changes perspective big time. It means I can step out of what I once was and step into what I am in the new reality of the Kingdom. I operate in Jesus' strength, power and wisdom. It might be hard to learn how to walk with these new legs but that's okay because Jesus is doing the walking, I just have to obey and allow him. But the verse isn't finished with yet:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
And there is why I can completely trust him with my death and the life he lives through me. This is why I put my faith in him with no questions, doubts or fears. He has earned my trust and I gladly give my faith. No one else has done what he has done for me with the cost that he had to pay. No one else suffered for me as he did. No one else climbed up on a cross. No one else died that I would be forgiven. No one else defeated death so that I might have life. No one. I am indebted to him and I gladly surrender to him that he might live in me so that I might live in him. May his will be done through this body of mine.
There is so much more that flows through me concerning this one verse but I leave it as I have written. But if this is where one verse can take us, how much more the entire Word of God. But it won't do anything for us if we are not meditating on it.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Will Jesus Find Faith On Earth When He Returns?
There is a trust deficit in our societies these days and who can blame us? Everyone we are suppose to be able to trust has broken that trust time after time. Politicians continue to do things against our trust. The banks have failed us more times than not. How many times do we have to see police beatings on the news; teachers abusing students; daycare workers abusing babies; doctors abusing patients? Corruption is at every turn. Of course there is going to be a trust deficit. So it may be an uphill climb when people hear Jesus say:
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (John 14:1)
Belief, faith, trust are all rolled up in one so in essence Jesus is saying, "Don't be worried, trust Yahweh and trust me". And why shouldn't we? Unlike almost every human being who has failed us and backed out on their promises, Jesus has never failed us. He has kept every promise. If you know him as I know him then you know just how much he loves you and the unbreakable covenant he has made with you. He made the decision to love you and nothing can stop him from doing that.
The important thing to understand is that trust is paramount in Jesus being everything he has promised to be. He warned us that any doubt in him, who he is and what he has promised, nullifies the beauty of the relationship. We must trust and such faith often has to be given when we cannot see. It is like what the apostle Paul wrote:
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Romans 8:24-25)
Hope and faith go hand in hand, working in similar manner. Consider Hebrews 11:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (v. 1)
"About what we do not see." Faith burns brightest when it is encased in the mysterious darkness of the unknown. Allow me to take us back to the second book of Kings, to a point where Elisha was being hunted down by an opposing king who was upset that his plans were being told by Elisha. The king tracked him down and surrounded the town in which he was staying. Elisha was on the roof with his servant and the servant was having an heart attack from the fright. The servant asked a very legitimate question for their situation, "Master, what are we going to do?"
We are like that servant, only willing to believe what we see. We may have a fool's hope to be saved from our situations but it is not a true hope. Elisha was the man of God, he trusted Yahweh because of his relationship, what he has experienced, what he has seen. Many of us should be like Elisha because of our relationship and our testimony. How many times does Jesus have to manifest himself in our situations before we start to trust for every situation?
Elisha told his servant:
“Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)
Does that sound familiar at all?
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
Now when Elisha prayed for his servant's eyes to be opened to Yahweh's reality, the servant saw a great heavenly army surrounding them so his fear dissipated. But we do not need to see any great army because we are possessed by the Holy Spirit. Ours is a relationship of trust that needs no proof or guarantees. The proof is in the relationship, the guarantee in his love. We believe it because Jesus said it.
If you need something beyond the promise of Jesus you are in a wrong place in your spiritual growth. If you are filled with anxiety and fear then you are not where you are suppose to be with Jesus. If you are constantly obsessed with your future then you need to get back to basics with Jesus. We are not like Elisha's servant, we are even greater than Elisha; we are inhabited by the King of Glory.
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (John 14:1)
Belief, faith, trust are all rolled up in one so in essence Jesus is saying, "Don't be worried, trust Yahweh and trust me". And why shouldn't we? Unlike almost every human being who has failed us and backed out on their promises, Jesus has never failed us. He has kept every promise. If you know him as I know him then you know just how much he loves you and the unbreakable covenant he has made with you. He made the decision to love you and nothing can stop him from doing that.
The important thing to understand is that trust is paramount in Jesus being everything he has promised to be. He warned us that any doubt in him, who he is and what he has promised, nullifies the beauty of the relationship. We must trust and such faith often has to be given when we cannot see. It is like what the apostle Paul wrote:
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Romans 8:24-25)
Hope and faith go hand in hand, working in similar manner. Consider Hebrews 11:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (v. 1)
"About what we do not see." Faith burns brightest when it is encased in the mysterious darkness of the unknown. Allow me to take us back to the second book of Kings, to a point where Elisha was being hunted down by an opposing king who was upset that his plans were being told by Elisha. The king tracked him down and surrounded the town in which he was staying. Elisha was on the roof with his servant and the servant was having an heart attack from the fright. The servant asked a very legitimate question for their situation, "Master, what are we going to do?"
We are like that servant, only willing to believe what we see. We may have a fool's hope to be saved from our situations but it is not a true hope. Elisha was the man of God, he trusted Yahweh because of his relationship, what he has experienced, what he has seen. Many of us should be like Elisha because of our relationship and our testimony. How many times does Jesus have to manifest himself in our situations before we start to trust for every situation?
Elisha told his servant:
“Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)
Does that sound familiar at all?
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
Now when Elisha prayed for his servant's eyes to be opened to Yahweh's reality, the servant saw a great heavenly army surrounding them so his fear dissipated. But we do not need to see any great army because we are possessed by the Holy Spirit. Ours is a relationship of trust that needs no proof or guarantees. The proof is in the relationship, the guarantee in his love. We believe it because Jesus said it.
If you need something beyond the promise of Jesus you are in a wrong place in your spiritual growth. If you are filled with anxiety and fear then you are not where you are suppose to be with Jesus. If you are constantly obsessed with your future then you need to get back to basics with Jesus. We are not like Elisha's servant, we are even greater than Elisha; we are inhabited by the King of Glory.
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Beware Of Your Own Logic
We have an ability to think, to reason, to draw conclusions and act on those conclusion. We were created with a great capacity for intelligence. However, relying only on our observations can and will get us into a lot of trouble. Just because we think it doesn't make it the truth. Just because our observations bring us to a certain conclusion doesn't mean we can rely on it. Jesus never told us that we would be on our own and that it was up to us to figure things out. In fact, he told us the opposite.
Yesterday we considered how Joshua got in trouble for making assumptions instead of consulting with Yahweh. Life is fluid and things can change rapidly depending on the many individuals involved in our lives. Then right on the heels of that difficult lesson came another one that dealt with the problem of our logic. The people of Gibeon saw the writing on the wall, knew they were doomed to die at the hands of Israel, so they came up with a plan to deceive Joshua:
However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Joshua 9:3-5)
They had somehow heard that Israel was commanded to drive out all the nations within a certain area so they made it look as if they were a people from a distance. Joshua should have consulted with Yahweh for the truth to be revealed but instead they trusted their observations:
The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. (vs.14-15)
We are no better, living by observation instead of by the Word of Yahweh. We see and we draw conclusions and act on those conclusions, attributing it to the will of our Father. We may even fire off a prayer or two or three but we do not wait or listen for a response, we just react to what we see. Our Lord's desires is made manifest to us in the Scriptures:
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
We have to walk in his statutes, in what he says is right, not what we come up with in our own logic, our own opinions. It doesn't matter what you think according to the logic of man, all that matters is what Yahweh says on the matter. And if you do not agree then you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. You may carry the title but Jesus made it clear that if we love him we will obey him, and he is the Living Word of Yahweh, which means he is referring to all of it. We don't get to pick and choose. Simply put:
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
By faith, trusting the Word of Yahweh, and not by sight, the logic of my opinions.
Yesterday we considered how Joshua got in trouble for making assumptions instead of consulting with Yahweh. Life is fluid and things can change rapidly depending on the many individuals involved in our lives. Then right on the heels of that difficult lesson came another one that dealt with the problem of our logic. The people of Gibeon saw the writing on the wall, knew they were doomed to die at the hands of Israel, so they came up with a plan to deceive Joshua:
However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Joshua 9:3-5)
They had somehow heard that Israel was commanded to drive out all the nations within a certain area so they made it look as if they were a people from a distance. Joshua should have consulted with Yahweh for the truth to be revealed but instead they trusted their observations:
The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. (vs.14-15)
We are no better, living by observation instead of by the Word of Yahweh. We see and we draw conclusions and act on those conclusions, attributing it to the will of our Father. We may even fire off a prayer or two or three but we do not wait or listen for a response, we just react to what we see. Our Lord's desires is made manifest to us in the Scriptures:
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
We have to walk in his statutes, in what he says is right, not what we come up with in our own logic, our own opinions. It doesn't matter what you think according to the logic of man, all that matters is what Yahweh says on the matter. And if you do not agree then you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. You may carry the title but Jesus made it clear that if we love him we will obey him, and he is the Living Word of Yahweh, which means he is referring to all of it. We don't get to pick and choose. Simply put:
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
By faith, trusting the Word of Yahweh, and not by sight, the logic of my opinions.
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