We live in an age of instant information. You can find out about most things with a few key strokes. But not all information is good. Not all sources are reliable. Along with it being the age of information it is also the age of misinformation. Not only do we have access to more of the truth, we also have access to much fault-filled thinking. So how do we judge the truth?
It will not surprise you if I say the only way to judge the truth in all this noise is the Word of God. Of course there is a huge move to discredit the Christian Scriptures because if it can be removed then there will be nothing to stop human faulty wisdom. But for those who call Jesus Lord the Bible is our only measuring rod. It is fine if science and other sources of knowledge confirm the Scriptures but we don't need such confirmation because the Spirit confirms it in us.
Of course there will be many who will not accept the testimony of the Spirit because they reject him too. So if they reject everything of Yahweh how can they expect to see him? They don't and they don't want to, so I have no interest in their opinion of God's Word. Here is the value of the Scriptures:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)
Don't read it too quickly. Look at the order. First we use it for teaching. We have to tell people who Jesus is and what he has done for us. They need to discover the wonder of his person and his actions. We don't teach people from our opinion or what we think but according to what Yahweh has revealed of himself through the Word. We teach the Jesus of the Bible not of popular culture.
Then we use it for rebuking false teachings that are based on the self-important wisdom of man. To rebuke something is to sternly disapprove. So we use the Word to understand what is disapproved by Yahweh. It is not based on our opinion or wisdom but on Yahweh's definition of what is not approved. But we don't leave it there.
We also use the Word to correct. We don't just disapprove but we set it right with the truth. We don't just criticize but also show what is right, what is approved, what Yahweh says is his will and desire for us. It is setting aside the old "wineskin" to put in place the new "wineskin". Those who are interested in truth are not trying to defend what they have accepted as truth but instead desire what Yahweh has revealed as truth.
Then there is the training. There are specific trainers in the Body of Christ as taught in Ephesians 4:
"And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints in ministry ..." (Ephesians 4:11-12)
These trainers use the Word to train us how to live in Jesus. We do not live for ourselves but for the will of Father. However, our flesh has not given up and continues to fight for dominance. These trainers help us to learn to keep the flesh in place to allow the Spirit of Christ to have authority over us.
If we are trying to serve Jesus without the Word then we have nothing to measure what we are doing, whether it is right or wrong. approved or disapproved, truth or false. The Christian must understand that the Word is the game plan, the battle orders, the thing that reveals who Father is, who we are, what he has done for us, and how we are to live for him. So don't try to live your day without out it or you may end up in some very wrong places.
Showing posts with label Word of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Word of God. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
By What Code Do You Live?
It is amazing some of the ideas and philosophies people live by. When I ask these people what they base these ideas on and where it comes from I discover the foundation is pretty flimsy. Most are things loosely based on eastern teaching or simple philosophies of life they have held on to from their experience. They are interesting philosophies but also changeable; so changeable that people try on new philosophies many times in their lifetime. The Christian cannot be like this.
Christians will grow and mature in their understanding and application but there is no shifting of foundational understanding in our lives. The benefit we have over everyone else is the Word of God, the Bible. People scoff and we get laughed at, looked down on, ridiculed but let them. At least we understand what we believe and our only challenge is to develop our faith to live what we believe. But this is part of the growth and maturity of our faith.
Refresh yourself in the inspiring words that the Spirit directed through Paul the apostle:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)
Plain and simple, with no excuses. The Bible reveals Yahweh, his plan, and who we are in him. There is nothing to add to it or take away from it. We need no other books or explanations. We do not base our life on anything else and we are not ashamed of this fact. We may feel ashamed when we start living outside of the Word and people call us out on it, but of the Word itself there is no shame.
Now the question is: Is this true of us? Are we living a life based on the Word of God, expressed in our life in Jesus? Or are we finding excuses to twist things in a certain way to allow us to do what we want? The Word comes against our sinful nature and the Spirit empowers us to overcome that nature because Jesus Christ destroyed its power over us. But that doesn't mean it has given up trying to claim us back. When we use the Word to measure ourselves and are honest about it, we will find good correction there; correction that keeps us on the right path.
The Word is under attack. It always has been. Each Christian must make the decision to testify with Paul that "it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes". Each of us must make that decision that it reveals to us the righteousness of God and he has called us to seek that righteousness. It is good to ask yourself if you have made such decisions or if you have chosen the philosophies of a fallen world. Just be honest with yourself so that Jesus can do something with it.
Christians will grow and mature in their understanding and application but there is no shifting of foundational understanding in our lives. The benefit we have over everyone else is the Word of God, the Bible. People scoff and we get laughed at, looked down on, ridiculed but let them. At least we understand what we believe and our only challenge is to develop our faith to live what we believe. But this is part of the growth and maturity of our faith.
Refresh yourself in the inspiring words that the Spirit directed through Paul the apostle:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)
Plain and simple, with no excuses. The Bible reveals Yahweh, his plan, and who we are in him. There is nothing to add to it or take away from it. We need no other books or explanations. We do not base our life on anything else and we are not ashamed of this fact. We may feel ashamed when we start living outside of the Word and people call us out on it, but of the Word itself there is no shame.
Now the question is: Is this true of us? Are we living a life based on the Word of God, expressed in our life in Jesus? Or are we finding excuses to twist things in a certain way to allow us to do what we want? The Word comes against our sinful nature and the Spirit empowers us to overcome that nature because Jesus Christ destroyed its power over us. But that doesn't mean it has given up trying to claim us back. When we use the Word to measure ourselves and are honest about it, we will find good correction there; correction that keeps us on the right path.
The Word is under attack. It always has been. Each Christian must make the decision to testify with Paul that "it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes". Each of us must make that decision that it reveals to us the righteousness of God and he has called us to seek that righteousness. It is good to ask yourself if you have made such decisions or if you have chosen the philosophies of a fallen world. Just be honest with yourself so that Jesus can do something with it.
Friday, September 19, 2014
The Word As The Word Is Enough
I can't deny it as I look in the mirror: I have a lot of experience under my belt. I am not saying I am old but I am more old than I am young these days. I find myself now asking the Lord for a lot of grace when I hear people, just starting out in life, so strongly expressing their opinions on things they have barely experienced. But neither is experience all that it is cracked up to be.
Experience really depends on what you do with it. You can experience the same mistake a hundred times but if you are not willing to be honest about it you will never gain anything from the experience. Life is always about learning and growing. Often the learning comes through "breaking" and "melting" moments of our lives but there has to be a vulnerability, a willingness to be broken. But beyond broken, there must also be a willingness to be healed.
There are far too many broken people in the world. There seems to be even more in the Church. Brokenness can be a very good thing as long as we understand that the purpose is to move out of it with greater wisdom than we went into it with. The problem is that many people prefer to remain broken when Jesus wills us to be healed and made whole.
For those who do seek healing in their brokenness, it is my experience, the Word of God is essential for comfort, understanding, healing and growth. We don't need anything outside of the Word as it is sufficient in itself. Many stay in their brokenness because they seek comfort in the wisdom of this world or they try to add on to God's Word, but God's Word is fantastic as it is, all on it's own:
Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6)
Yes, it has been my experience that there have been days I have looked in the mirror and seen what a liar I was. All of us have tried to leverage God's Word to our advantage but Jesus will never allow us to remain in such a state. He will rebuke us, correct us and bring us to the truth of the matter. It is for our benefit. I hope we are able to be honest with ourselves and Jesus in those moments.
There is a lot of unhealed brokenness and a lot of liars-to-self walking around in the Body of Christ. The best way to ensure that we are not in this number is to allow the Word of God to be the authority of Yahweh in our lives. Allow it to not only break us but to bring healing as well. Allow it to reveal the hidden things, to convict, correct, encourage, comfort and grow us. The Word of God is the tool of the Holy Spirit as we are shaped and molded into the character of Jesus. So allow it to happen without adding to it. The Word as the Word is enough.
Experience really depends on what you do with it. You can experience the same mistake a hundred times but if you are not willing to be honest about it you will never gain anything from the experience. Life is always about learning and growing. Often the learning comes through "breaking" and "melting" moments of our lives but there has to be a vulnerability, a willingness to be broken. But beyond broken, there must also be a willingness to be healed.
There are far too many broken people in the world. There seems to be even more in the Church. Brokenness can be a very good thing as long as we understand that the purpose is to move out of it with greater wisdom than we went into it with. The problem is that many people prefer to remain broken when Jesus wills us to be healed and made whole.
For those who do seek healing in their brokenness, it is my experience, the Word of God is essential for comfort, understanding, healing and growth. We don't need anything outside of the Word as it is sufficient in itself. Many stay in their brokenness because they seek comfort in the wisdom of this world or they try to add on to God's Word, but God's Word is fantastic as it is, all on it's own:
Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6)
Yes, it has been my experience that there have been days I have looked in the mirror and seen what a liar I was. All of us have tried to leverage God's Word to our advantage but Jesus will never allow us to remain in such a state. He will rebuke us, correct us and bring us to the truth of the matter. It is for our benefit. I hope we are able to be honest with ourselves and Jesus in those moments.
There is a lot of unhealed brokenness and a lot of liars-to-self walking around in the Body of Christ. The best way to ensure that we are not in this number is to allow the Word of God to be the authority of Yahweh in our lives. Allow it to not only break us but to bring healing as well. Allow it to reveal the hidden things, to convict, correct, encourage, comfort and grow us. The Word of God is the tool of the Holy Spirit as we are shaped and molded into the character of Jesus. So allow it to happen without adding to it. The Word as the Word is enough.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
How Do You Hear The Spirit Speaking?
Too many of us Christians don't know what we are talking about. We live by word of mouth, not bothering to go to the source directly. We may read the Scriptures and perhaps attend Bible study where we enjoy great discussion but how much time do we spend in meditating on the Word; allowing it to sink in deep, to shape our perspective, thinking and actions? In such a crowded society, with so much to "do", I don't we do it at all.
To love Jesus is to love his Word and to love his Word is to desire to be shaped by it. I like the progression of Psalm 19:
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;"
It is so profound that it changes our soul.
"The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;"
It impacts our thinking,making us wise.
"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;"
It frees us from from the ugliness of self, bringing joy to out heart.
"The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;"
It clears away the fog of the sin of this world and allows us to see.
"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;"
In a world in constant flux, it never changes.
"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
In a world that continues to redefine right and wrong, good and bad, the Word of God remains the correct revelation of Yahweh's holiness.
How can we say that we love Jesus and then ignore our only source of revelation? The Word of God is a book unlike any other and is understood through the direct revelation of the Holy Spirit. In other Words, when Jesus possesses you, he teaches you as you meditate on his Word. So as the psalmist indicates, it should be precious to us:
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10)
Let's not forget accountability. The Spirit uses the Word to guide us, speak to us and correct us. If we are not hiding the Word in our heart, what does the Spirit have with which to speak to us?
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward. (v. 11)
If you seriously want to follow and serve Jesus then learn to be in love with his Word. If you want to hear clearly from the Spirit, meditate on it, memorize it, allow it to be hidden in your heart so you can hear him speaking to you.
To love Jesus is to love his Word and to love his Word is to desire to be shaped by it. I like the progression of Psalm 19:
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;"
It is so profound that it changes our soul.
"The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;"
It impacts our thinking,making us wise.
"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;"
It frees us from from the ugliness of self, bringing joy to out heart.
"The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;"
It clears away the fog of the sin of this world and allows us to see.
"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;"
In a world in constant flux, it never changes.
"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
In a world that continues to redefine right and wrong, good and bad, the Word of God remains the correct revelation of Yahweh's holiness.
How can we say that we love Jesus and then ignore our only source of revelation? The Word of God is a book unlike any other and is understood through the direct revelation of the Holy Spirit. In other Words, when Jesus possesses you, he teaches you as you meditate on his Word. So as the psalmist indicates, it should be precious to us:
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10)
Let's not forget accountability. The Spirit uses the Word to guide us, speak to us and correct us. If we are not hiding the Word in our heart, what does the Spirit have with which to speak to us?
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward. (v. 11)
If you seriously want to follow and serve Jesus then learn to be in love with his Word. If you want to hear clearly from the Spirit, meditate on it, memorize it, allow it to be hidden in your heart so you can hear him speaking to you.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Believe Or Don't Believe
All I want for people is that they would step into the flow of Yahweh's blessings for their lives. So many people are needlessly suffering from worry, fear, anxiety, sleepless nights, depression, directionlessness, lack of hope and a whole pile of other ailments that do not belong to them. That is not Father's plan for us and it certainly is not the reason Jesus gave his life for us. He gave his life so that we would have life in abundance. We are also making him out to be a liar because he promised us peace.
Obviously all his promises were conditional, based on a relationship of love and obedience. It is a relationship of trust. Jesus promised and we trust that his word is true. But therein lies the problem, people not longer trust the Word. I understand the world but there are far too many Christians that I speak to who say they do not fully believe in the Word of God. How can you not fully believe? It is not something you can divide up into truth, half-truth, lie. Either you believe or you don't. Jesus actually had some words to say about this.
Jesus was explaining his authority, found in John 5:
I do not accept glory from men, but I know you—that you have no love for God within you. (v. 41-42)
Jesus did not care what anyone said about him. It was not a popularity contest. He did not come to seek his own fame or glory but to serve his Father in love. Let's check our own motivation. Are we following the Father's will or are we trying to shape the Word to our own agenda? That's a very good question that most of us fail in answering.
I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. (v. 43)
Basic problem here: if a person does not accept Jesus then they can't accept his promises. People will believe the most ridiculous things, such as the stars telling you your future, or that money can really satisfy that deep longing within. Yet, we can't accept that we are all mess ups and our Creator, who created us for himself, would pay the price to bring us back to him. We struggle that the Creator of the entire creation could become part of his creation. It really comes down to this, do we believe Jesus?
How can you believe? While accepting glory from one another, you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God. (v. 44)
Yes, that is the crazy part, we worship people who can play a part on television or in a movie; we worship people who can play an instrument or sing a song; we worship people who can kick a ball, shoot a puck, or swish a hoop, but we can't worship the one who gave us life and has offered us eternal life with him. Looking at it from Jesus' perspective, we are crazy.
Then Jesus brings it down to the simple fact of the matter:
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (v. 46-47)
If we don't trust the Word of God; if we don't see each word being inspired by him; if we cannot accept that this is Yahweh's revelation of himself to us, then how will we ever believe? Some would say that they believe but not everything is from Yahweh. Tell me who is going to pick and choose, and if you are going to do that how are you going to decide what to believe? How can you believe in Jesus and how can you decide what to believe about Jesus if you do not accept his written revelation?
It's funny, isn't it, that all the liberal "Christians", the ones that dismiss sin as a cultural thing, all believe that we have to pick and choose from the Word. I find it amazing how these Christians just happen to line up with society's measurement of norms. Yet, those who seem to be at odds with those norms are the Christians who stand by the divinely inspired Word of God. I also find it amazing how Jesus and then the apostles warned us that this day would arrive.
Don't deceive yourself or let yourself be deceived. Believe the Word or don't believe the Word but don't fool yourself that you can have a foot in both worlds because Jesus said you can't. It doesn't work that way.
Obviously all his promises were conditional, based on a relationship of love and obedience. It is a relationship of trust. Jesus promised and we trust that his word is true. But therein lies the problem, people not longer trust the Word. I understand the world but there are far too many Christians that I speak to who say they do not fully believe in the Word of God. How can you not fully believe? It is not something you can divide up into truth, half-truth, lie. Either you believe or you don't. Jesus actually had some words to say about this.
Jesus was explaining his authority, found in John 5:
I do not accept glory from men, but I know you—that you have no love for God within you. (v. 41-42)
Jesus did not care what anyone said about him. It was not a popularity contest. He did not come to seek his own fame or glory but to serve his Father in love. Let's check our own motivation. Are we following the Father's will or are we trying to shape the Word to our own agenda? That's a very good question that most of us fail in answering.
I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. (v. 43)
Basic problem here: if a person does not accept Jesus then they can't accept his promises. People will believe the most ridiculous things, such as the stars telling you your future, or that money can really satisfy that deep longing within. Yet, we can't accept that we are all mess ups and our Creator, who created us for himself, would pay the price to bring us back to him. We struggle that the Creator of the entire creation could become part of his creation. It really comes down to this, do we believe Jesus?
How can you believe? While accepting glory from one another, you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God. (v. 44)
Yes, that is the crazy part, we worship people who can play a part on television or in a movie; we worship people who can play an instrument or sing a song; we worship people who can kick a ball, shoot a puck, or swish a hoop, but we can't worship the one who gave us life and has offered us eternal life with him. Looking at it from Jesus' perspective, we are crazy.
Then Jesus brings it down to the simple fact of the matter:
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (v. 46-47)
If we don't trust the Word of God; if we don't see each word being inspired by him; if we cannot accept that this is Yahweh's revelation of himself to us, then how will we ever believe? Some would say that they believe but not everything is from Yahweh. Tell me who is going to pick and choose, and if you are going to do that how are you going to decide what to believe? How can you believe in Jesus and how can you decide what to believe about Jesus if you do not accept his written revelation?
It's funny, isn't it, that all the liberal "Christians", the ones that dismiss sin as a cultural thing, all believe that we have to pick and choose from the Word. I find it amazing how these Christians just happen to line up with society's measurement of norms. Yet, those who seem to be at odds with those norms are the Christians who stand by the divinely inspired Word of God. I also find it amazing how Jesus and then the apostles warned us that this day would arrive.
Don't deceive yourself or let yourself be deceived. Believe the Word or don't believe the Word but don't fool yourself that you can have a foot in both worlds because Jesus said you can't. It doesn't work that way.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Hold On To Jesus' Truth
Hold on! That is the message I receive in my spirit this morning. Hold on to the faith. Hold on to the Word. Hold on to the Spirit. Hold on to Jesus Christ. There is a lot of forgery, mockery, and deception that is taking place and it is discouraging, but hold on. There is a lot of pressure to compromise, to give in, to conform to our society, but hold on. There is a lot of questioning, doubting, fear mongering in our own heart, but hold on.
Okay, but how do we hold on?
It is sad to encounter so many Christians who are redesigning their faith and beliefs according to the dictates of our society. Here I thought the Church was suppose to impact and influence society but in the truth of the world today it is the other way round. Youth and adults are claiming to be Christian while promoting teachings that fly in the face of the holiness and righteousness of Jesus. I am left scratching my head in sheer bewilderment how anyone can know the Word and make such assertions.
There are really two reasons why this is happening. The first is that we are not in the Word. The Bible is the source of everything we know about Father, Jesus and the Spirit. It is the reason it is under such incredible attack today, not that most Christians are even aware of this attack. But most Christians don't even open it let alone read, study or meditate on it. How can they apply the foundations of the Kingdom if they don't even know them?
So if Christians aren't in the Word, what is the source of knowledge for most of us? This blog and others like it, or short statuses, or society. The last is the scariest because Christians look to society for guidance but we are the ones who are suppose to be guiding society. The only source a Christian should be turning to is the Word of God and if they don't understand it they can seek the help of a mature Christian.
The second reason why we are encountering so many confused Christians is because they mistake their desires to be truth. Again this past week I have heard of at least three pastors who have decided to leave out sections of the Word because it conflicts with their new view on things; their new desires. God's Word did not change but their love for the Lord did, allowing their opinion to become greater than God's Word. Don't be shocked, we do it all the time.
We compromise on the Word when it comes into conflict with our desires. Yet the Word says that we have been crucified with Christ and no longer live but it is Jesus who lives in us. Amen! Sounds great until you realize it means the death of your opinion, your desires, and sets Jesus above all things. All things. We are too in love with this world to even begin to imagine how this impacts our lives. We want all the benefits without any of the cost.
It is not a simple thing. It gets messy when you hold on to faith and the roots it comes from. Jesus said he didn't come to bring peace but division. He said because of him families would be divided. Truth! But we are seeing compromise as parents' love for their children take greater priority over their love of Jesus. Because their children have made certain decisions parents are willing to throw out portions of the Bible. I know it is hard, these are your children, but they need salvation and that isn't going to happen as you try to make it easy on them by compromising. They need to see the truth and they need to see it in you, even if they don't like it.
It's going to get rough. It is going to get a lot harder. There are going to be some very discouraging days ahead. Hold on! Don't give up now, especially as the Day is approaching. It is like sitting down in a race with the finish line in sight. Yes, it is hard and will take all the effort you can muster but eternity is well worth it. Jesus' love is well worth it.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage each other - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
My friend, dwell in the Word and in the Spirit every day. Don't miss one day. Worship every day. Make Jesus your greatest priority. Let him be the source from which everything else flows. With what is approaching, you will need to make sure that you are as close and as dependent on him as you can get. No compromise. Hold on!
Okay, but how do we hold on?
It is sad to encounter so many Christians who are redesigning their faith and beliefs according to the dictates of our society. Here I thought the Church was suppose to impact and influence society but in the truth of the world today it is the other way round. Youth and adults are claiming to be Christian while promoting teachings that fly in the face of the holiness and righteousness of Jesus. I am left scratching my head in sheer bewilderment how anyone can know the Word and make such assertions.
There are really two reasons why this is happening. The first is that we are not in the Word. The Bible is the source of everything we know about Father, Jesus and the Spirit. It is the reason it is under such incredible attack today, not that most Christians are even aware of this attack. But most Christians don't even open it let alone read, study or meditate on it. How can they apply the foundations of the Kingdom if they don't even know them?
So if Christians aren't in the Word, what is the source of knowledge for most of us? This blog and others like it, or short statuses, or society. The last is the scariest because Christians look to society for guidance but we are the ones who are suppose to be guiding society. The only source a Christian should be turning to is the Word of God and if they don't understand it they can seek the help of a mature Christian.
The second reason why we are encountering so many confused Christians is because they mistake their desires to be truth. Again this past week I have heard of at least three pastors who have decided to leave out sections of the Word because it conflicts with their new view on things; their new desires. God's Word did not change but their love for the Lord did, allowing their opinion to become greater than God's Word. Don't be shocked, we do it all the time.
We compromise on the Word when it comes into conflict with our desires. Yet the Word says that we have been crucified with Christ and no longer live but it is Jesus who lives in us. Amen! Sounds great until you realize it means the death of your opinion, your desires, and sets Jesus above all things. All things. We are too in love with this world to even begin to imagine how this impacts our lives. We want all the benefits without any of the cost.
It is not a simple thing. It gets messy when you hold on to faith and the roots it comes from. Jesus said he didn't come to bring peace but division. He said because of him families would be divided. Truth! But we are seeing compromise as parents' love for their children take greater priority over their love of Jesus. Because their children have made certain decisions parents are willing to throw out portions of the Bible. I know it is hard, these are your children, but they need salvation and that isn't going to happen as you try to make it easy on them by compromising. They need to see the truth and they need to see it in you, even if they don't like it.
It's going to get rough. It is going to get a lot harder. There are going to be some very discouraging days ahead. Hold on! Don't give up now, especially as the Day is approaching. It is like sitting down in a race with the finish line in sight. Yes, it is hard and will take all the effort you can muster but eternity is well worth it. Jesus' love is well worth it.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage each other - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
My friend, dwell in the Word and in the Spirit every day. Don't miss one day. Worship every day. Make Jesus your greatest priority. Let him be the source from which everything else flows. With what is approaching, you will need to make sure that you are as close and as dependent on him as you can get. No compromise. Hold on!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
There Is Something Even More Important Than Reading Your Bible
When I was teaching in school one of the more difficult classes I taught was Algebra. It wasn't that algebra itself is difficult but that there was a lot of resistance from the students. The reason they resisted was because they saw no practical use for it. History is full of interesting stories so most students don't mind learning it. English is very practical. Science is fun but Algebra seemed to them to have no purpose. It only makes sense that we would want to use our time and effort to gain skills that we can apply daily. So why do we fail to do this with the Word of God?
First, let's just repeat : It is the Word of God. It needs to be respected so when we approach it there should be a sense of awe and wonder as we open the words that reveal Father's heart to us. These are his words that he has given to us so that we could understand the history of our situation and his love for us. It is filled with inspiration, direction and instructions. It gives us many sign posts, measuring rods so that we can do self evaluations to know where we are in our relationship with Jesus and how far we are coming along in our growth. This is important stuff.
The Word is not theory but a practical guide for living. We are to hear it, read it, meditate on it, study it, memorize it but especially apply it. When Jesus was told his family was waiting for him his response was important:
My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. (Luke 8:21, NKJV)
Not just hear it but do it. We all know what James had to say about it:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25, NKJV)
But this is not an original thought from James. The Spirit is only reminding us through James what Jesus has already told us. In fact, there is one verse that I find essential for every believer to grasp:
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21, NIV old version))
It is impossible to argue against the words of the one who showed his love to us by going to the cross for us. We have his commands by hearing and reading, but it is the obedience that is essential for the full revelation of Jesus. In our obedience we will know that we are loved and Jesus will show himself to us.
Obviously we can't obey the commands of Yahweh in our flesh. If that had been possible Jesus would not have had to die for us. However, what is impossible for man is possible for Yahweh and is the reason why we have the Holy Spirit. Salvation has been won for us by Jesus but our maturity comes about by our cooperation and obedience to the Spirit. He is with us to empower us to grow in our obedience. I so enjoy Ephesians 4 for its explanation of the process:
His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. (v. 12-13, CEB)
We are suppose to be growing in order to reach spiritual maturity. Hearing, reading and doing the Word of God is essential to this growth. The doing is possible through the Spirit in us. This maturity is important, especially in these end days for in this same passage we read:
As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, who is the head. (v. 14-16, CEB)
People are confused today because they don't know the Word so they can't obey the Spirit. People are going by their emotions and rational thinking. Because it makes sense in this world they assume it is what Yahweh wants. We don't have to guess or assume at what Yahweh wants, he has already written it down for us. We just need to obey in our relationship with Jesus and by the power of the Spirit in us.
Yes, stop reading this and go read your Bible. Then get up, go out in the Spirit and do what Jesus has commanded. In this way you will demonstrate that you are part of his family and you will receive even greater revelation of him as he reveals himself to you. More importantly, Jesus will be glorified through you.
First, let's just repeat : It is the Word of God. It needs to be respected so when we approach it there should be a sense of awe and wonder as we open the words that reveal Father's heart to us. These are his words that he has given to us so that we could understand the history of our situation and his love for us. It is filled with inspiration, direction and instructions. It gives us many sign posts, measuring rods so that we can do self evaluations to know where we are in our relationship with Jesus and how far we are coming along in our growth. This is important stuff.
The Word is not theory but a practical guide for living. We are to hear it, read it, meditate on it, study it, memorize it but especially apply it. When Jesus was told his family was waiting for him his response was important:
My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. (Luke 8:21, NKJV)
Not just hear it but do it. We all know what James had to say about it:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25, NKJV)
But this is not an original thought from James. The Spirit is only reminding us through James what Jesus has already told us. In fact, there is one verse that I find essential for every believer to grasp:
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21, NIV old version))
It is impossible to argue against the words of the one who showed his love to us by going to the cross for us. We have his commands by hearing and reading, but it is the obedience that is essential for the full revelation of Jesus. In our obedience we will know that we are loved and Jesus will show himself to us.
Obviously we can't obey the commands of Yahweh in our flesh. If that had been possible Jesus would not have had to die for us. However, what is impossible for man is possible for Yahweh and is the reason why we have the Holy Spirit. Salvation has been won for us by Jesus but our maturity comes about by our cooperation and obedience to the Spirit. He is with us to empower us to grow in our obedience. I so enjoy Ephesians 4 for its explanation of the process:
His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. (v. 12-13, CEB)
We are suppose to be growing in order to reach spiritual maturity. Hearing, reading and doing the Word of God is essential to this growth. The doing is possible through the Spirit in us. This maturity is important, especially in these end days for in this same passage we read:
As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, who is the head. (v. 14-16, CEB)
People are confused today because they don't know the Word so they can't obey the Spirit. People are going by their emotions and rational thinking. Because it makes sense in this world they assume it is what Yahweh wants. We don't have to guess or assume at what Yahweh wants, he has already written it down for us. We just need to obey in our relationship with Jesus and by the power of the Spirit in us.
Yes, stop reading this and go read your Bible. Then get up, go out in the Spirit and do what Jesus has commanded. In this way you will demonstrate that you are part of his family and you will receive even greater revelation of him as he reveals himself to you. More importantly, Jesus will be glorified through you.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Why The Promise "Ask and Receive" Is Not Working For Us
It is amazing what the Spirit teaches us when we meditate on God's Word instead of just reading it. Most of us just read and, although we gain a lot of knowledge in our reading, mere facts, we miss the spiritual knowledge. Most of us do not take the time to plumb the depths of verses or passages. If we do anything at all we just read.
Meditating is not a difficult thing. You don't need to enroll in Bible College or have a ton of commentaries hanging around the house. You simply approach the verse or passage in prayer and take it apart. You can write what is on your heart in your own words concerning the verse. Write it out several times, giving the emphasis to a different key word each time. Read it out loud. Read various translations. Do a word search on the main topic words. Ask the Spirit to explain it to you. Make lots of notes.
A verse I was meditating on yesterday is found in John 15:
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (v. 7)
The first thing to note is that there is a promise here. The promise is that we can ask for what we wish and it will be given to us. That is a fantastic promise and one that many Christians lean on but few see fulfilled. But this is a promise. Does that make Jesus a liar? Well, I know he is not a liar so what else does this verse say that we may have missed and caused us to misunderstand the promise? Are there any conditions to it? Reading the entire verse I can see there are two conditions related to each other.
If you abide in me.
Abide means to remain, to dwell, to continue with, but it is also an attitude or relationship. It strikes me that to rest in Jesus, to live in him requires that we are loyal to him, obedient. steadfast. It means not being distracted by shiny things, not allowing anything to disturb us like fear or worry. It is a position of trust and dependency. It means not giving ourselves to anyone or anything else. We belong exclusively to Jesus if we are living in him, or abiding. It means no longer living for ourselves because we have become one with him. We want what he wants, our will is submitted to his.
It conveys a oneness with Jesus. If I let my spirit express itself concerning this relationship I hear and feel such words as, dying to my flesh, pleasures, passions, lusts, appetites. My heart felt cry is "I need a new heart." "Transform me Lord!" "Change me!" Then I read:
And my words abide in you.
Again, abide means to remain, to dwell, to continue with. So his Word takes up residence in us, becoming part of us, taking over, shaping, molding, transforming. We begin to live by this Word. It only makes sense as Jesus rebuked the devil with a common Scripture:
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Luke 4:4)
Jesus had also just taught his disciples:
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)
We are to be controlled and directed by the Word, governed and set right by it. It is not something we carry around with us in a book. It is not a set of laws. It is a living thing within us that brings life. Yahweh promised to write it on our hearts and we are to bury it there like a seed. The Holy Spirit uses it to encourage, comfort, correct and empower us.
My spirit fills we with words that again describe this oneness with Jesus: owned, possessed, governed, controlled, desiring, seeking, longing, hoping, pursuing, surrendering, casting out, giving, dying. The realization that the direction I am moving in is wrong. I pray, "Your ways O Lord. Your paths. Your truth. I run to you!"
The promise that we would receive what we ask for is obviously based on an incredibly intimate relationship, one of dependence and submission. In such a relationship we would never find ourselves as James described those who lacked from not asking, asking with wrong motivations and asking with doubt. Such a loyal and intimate relationship with Jesus would never allow us to be found in such condition.
From our own selfish perspective we consider this promise of asking and receiving to be about us, for our own gain. However, these two conditions describe such a selfless and intimate relationship with Jesus that asking anything outside of his will seems impossible. Some would say that Father loves to pour blessings out on his children but that comes from a selfish perspective. We have to stop and consider Father's perspective, motivation and the purpose of Jesus.
Jesus did not come showering gifts upon everyone. He came with some really great news and a demonstration of Yahweh's power. He was bent on one purpose, to save the lost. He trained disciples to carry on this mission while he returned to the Father to send us the Spirit. After he opened the doors of forgiveness and eternity via the cross and empty tomb, he gave us the commission to continue on with the great mission of making disciples. For two thousand years men and women who have taken this mission seriously have sacrificed everything for it, including their lives. Yet here we are, two thousand years in, thinking that this promise of ask and receive has to do with mansions and cars. Are we kidding?
The conditions of this promise is an incredibly intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, where we have his commands, his words and are walking in obedience to them. Whatever we need, wish, ask for will be given to us, but keep it in the context of these conditions. If we have such an intimate relationship with Jesus then his priorities will be ours, as will his will and his will is the Father's and the Father's will is that everyone would be saved. Ask whatever you need or wish to fulfill the will of Father and it is yours. It has never been about us, it is about the lost and Jesus' mission to save them. Is this what we are living for?
That is where meditating on the Word gets you, a whole lot deeper than just reading.
Meditating is not a difficult thing. You don't need to enroll in Bible College or have a ton of commentaries hanging around the house. You simply approach the verse or passage in prayer and take it apart. You can write what is on your heart in your own words concerning the verse. Write it out several times, giving the emphasis to a different key word each time. Read it out loud. Read various translations. Do a word search on the main topic words. Ask the Spirit to explain it to you. Make lots of notes.
A verse I was meditating on yesterday is found in John 15:
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (v. 7)
The first thing to note is that there is a promise here. The promise is that we can ask for what we wish and it will be given to us. That is a fantastic promise and one that many Christians lean on but few see fulfilled. But this is a promise. Does that make Jesus a liar? Well, I know he is not a liar so what else does this verse say that we may have missed and caused us to misunderstand the promise? Are there any conditions to it? Reading the entire verse I can see there are two conditions related to each other.
If you abide in me.
Abide means to remain, to dwell, to continue with, but it is also an attitude or relationship. It strikes me that to rest in Jesus, to live in him requires that we are loyal to him, obedient. steadfast. It means not being distracted by shiny things, not allowing anything to disturb us like fear or worry. It is a position of trust and dependency. It means not giving ourselves to anyone or anything else. We belong exclusively to Jesus if we are living in him, or abiding. It means no longer living for ourselves because we have become one with him. We want what he wants, our will is submitted to his.
It conveys a oneness with Jesus. If I let my spirit express itself concerning this relationship I hear and feel such words as, dying to my flesh, pleasures, passions, lusts, appetites. My heart felt cry is "I need a new heart." "Transform me Lord!" "Change me!" Then I read:
And my words abide in you.
Again, abide means to remain, to dwell, to continue with. So his Word takes up residence in us, becoming part of us, taking over, shaping, molding, transforming. We begin to live by this Word. It only makes sense as Jesus rebuked the devil with a common Scripture:
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Luke 4:4)
Jesus had also just taught his disciples:
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)
We are to be controlled and directed by the Word, governed and set right by it. It is not something we carry around with us in a book. It is not a set of laws. It is a living thing within us that brings life. Yahweh promised to write it on our hearts and we are to bury it there like a seed. The Holy Spirit uses it to encourage, comfort, correct and empower us.
My spirit fills we with words that again describe this oneness with Jesus: owned, possessed, governed, controlled, desiring, seeking, longing, hoping, pursuing, surrendering, casting out, giving, dying. The realization that the direction I am moving in is wrong. I pray, "Your ways O Lord. Your paths. Your truth. I run to you!"
The promise that we would receive what we ask for is obviously based on an incredibly intimate relationship, one of dependence and submission. In such a relationship we would never find ourselves as James described those who lacked from not asking, asking with wrong motivations and asking with doubt. Such a loyal and intimate relationship with Jesus would never allow us to be found in such condition.
From our own selfish perspective we consider this promise of asking and receiving to be about us, for our own gain. However, these two conditions describe such a selfless and intimate relationship with Jesus that asking anything outside of his will seems impossible. Some would say that Father loves to pour blessings out on his children but that comes from a selfish perspective. We have to stop and consider Father's perspective, motivation and the purpose of Jesus.
Jesus did not come showering gifts upon everyone. He came with some really great news and a demonstration of Yahweh's power. He was bent on one purpose, to save the lost. He trained disciples to carry on this mission while he returned to the Father to send us the Spirit. After he opened the doors of forgiveness and eternity via the cross and empty tomb, he gave us the commission to continue on with the great mission of making disciples. For two thousand years men and women who have taken this mission seriously have sacrificed everything for it, including their lives. Yet here we are, two thousand years in, thinking that this promise of ask and receive has to do with mansions and cars. Are we kidding?
The conditions of this promise is an incredibly intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, where we have his commands, his words and are walking in obedience to them. Whatever we need, wish, ask for will be given to us, but keep it in the context of these conditions. If we have such an intimate relationship with Jesus then his priorities will be ours, as will his will and his will is the Father's and the Father's will is that everyone would be saved. Ask whatever you need or wish to fulfill the will of Father and it is yours. It has never been about us, it is about the lost and Jesus' mission to save them. Is this what we are living for?
That is where meditating on the Word gets you, a whole lot deeper than just reading.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Would You Consider Yourself A Skilled Christian?
Do you consider yourself a skilled Christian? Yes, that question struck me as odd as well when I first read it in the book of Hebrews but as I pondered it I began to appreciate it. We do a lot of listening, learning, studying but not a lot of practice. Certainly we all try to be kind but there is a lot more to Christianity than being kind. In some ways, our spiritual development is somewhat like school in that you do not get to advance until you demonstrate that you are able to apply what you have learned. In other words, there are many of us Christians who are still stuck in kindergarten.
While we are serving Jesus in this place we should understand that his goal for us is spiritual maturity. Everything we do, that we face, that we learn is suppose to move us forward in this maturity. To put it in the terms of my opening question, we should be improving our skills, advancing to the "master" category. The writer of Hebrews observed this:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12)
This provokes a humorous picture in my head of a bunch of 25 year olds playing with nursery toys, stuck in kindergarten. They should be teachers but they have not yet gained the skills to leave kindergarten. We learn about, even study, concerning prayer, but we don't pray. We learn and study about evangelism but we have never been brave enough to try. We hear about the importance of hospitality but never invite anyone over. And these are the simple things:
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (v.13)
Righteousness is important but few of us understand it. We are unskilled to apply it. Righteousness crudely is the understanding of good and evil, right and wrong. There is a right path and there is a wrong path. There are right choices and wrong choices. The more that we allow the Spirit to guide is in the right choices the more familiar those things become, the easier it is for us to recognize. But if we don't understand this then how could we ever apply the Word of God to our every day practical living? Then we hear Jesus' question, why do we call him Lord if we don't do what he has instructed? (Luke 6)
When athletes train they are conditioning their bodies to perform in a certain manner. Each sport requires different skills. A hockey player would not make a great snow boarder. He may be good at it but he will never be great because his body is conditioned for hockey. With practice he has gained skill in his chosen sport. Christians also train their heart, mind, soul and strength under the guidance of the Spirit to gain great spiritual skill to be able to apply the Word, to walk in righteousness.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (v. 14)
I am not talking about gaining our salvation by our own works. I am speaking to those of you who have already received Jesus and are under that promise of salvation. I am speaking to those who are on their walk with Jesus but can't seem to get any traction to advance. Our great desire should be to mature in Jesus, to walk in his righteousness. At first it will be difficult, just like learning to physically walk, but with practice we gain skill and we will eventually be running. We will be mature, growing into the fullness of Jesus.
It means when we are faced with decisions, we learn to die to our desires and choose what honours Jesus. It means, every day our thoughts are of Jesus and we use him as our measuring rod in our conduct and choices. We learn to hear and obey the Spirit as he constantly guides us and teaches according to the righteousness of Jesus. It means we learn to die to ourselves a little bit every day as we become skilled in the word of righteousness, moving from milk to glorious solid food. It is where the Word of God moves from a document of theory to the Living Word inside of us, embodied in our words and actions. It is gaining skill to do what Jesus has instructed us to do as we apply it in everything in our lives. So let's make every day a practice day.
While we are serving Jesus in this place we should understand that his goal for us is spiritual maturity. Everything we do, that we face, that we learn is suppose to move us forward in this maturity. To put it in the terms of my opening question, we should be improving our skills, advancing to the "master" category. The writer of Hebrews observed this:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12)
This provokes a humorous picture in my head of a bunch of 25 year olds playing with nursery toys, stuck in kindergarten. They should be teachers but they have not yet gained the skills to leave kindergarten. We learn about, even study, concerning prayer, but we don't pray. We learn and study about evangelism but we have never been brave enough to try. We hear about the importance of hospitality but never invite anyone over. And these are the simple things:
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (v.13)
Righteousness is important but few of us understand it. We are unskilled to apply it. Righteousness crudely is the understanding of good and evil, right and wrong. There is a right path and there is a wrong path. There are right choices and wrong choices. The more that we allow the Spirit to guide is in the right choices the more familiar those things become, the easier it is for us to recognize. But if we don't understand this then how could we ever apply the Word of God to our every day practical living? Then we hear Jesus' question, why do we call him Lord if we don't do what he has instructed? (Luke 6)
When athletes train they are conditioning their bodies to perform in a certain manner. Each sport requires different skills. A hockey player would not make a great snow boarder. He may be good at it but he will never be great because his body is conditioned for hockey. With practice he has gained skill in his chosen sport. Christians also train their heart, mind, soul and strength under the guidance of the Spirit to gain great spiritual skill to be able to apply the Word, to walk in righteousness.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (v. 14)
I am not talking about gaining our salvation by our own works. I am speaking to those of you who have already received Jesus and are under that promise of salvation. I am speaking to those who are on their walk with Jesus but can't seem to get any traction to advance. Our great desire should be to mature in Jesus, to walk in his righteousness. At first it will be difficult, just like learning to physically walk, but with practice we gain skill and we will eventually be running. We will be mature, growing into the fullness of Jesus.
It means when we are faced with decisions, we learn to die to our desires and choose what honours Jesus. It means, every day our thoughts are of Jesus and we use him as our measuring rod in our conduct and choices. We learn to hear and obey the Spirit as he constantly guides us and teaches according to the righteousness of Jesus. It means we learn to die to ourselves a little bit every day as we become skilled in the word of righteousness, moving from milk to glorious solid food. It is where the Word of God moves from a document of theory to the Living Word inside of us, embodied in our words and actions. It is gaining skill to do what Jesus has instructed us to do as we apply it in everything in our lives. So let's make every day a practice day.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Open My Eyes Lord
"Open my mind and let me discover the wonders of your Law." Psalm 119:18 CEV
So many people approach the Word of God as they would a novel, a book of history, or some impossible thing to understand, and approaching it in such a way will make it impossible to understand. What is worse is when we approach it like unbelieving theologians, tearing it apart like some ancient text book that has to be proven or disproved. The Word of God does not need to be defended any more than the Ark of the Convenient needed to be protected. It is not in need of being proven. It is from God, of God, holy and protected by him. He will defend it. He will prove it.
I cannot teach you the Word of God unless I am anointed by the Spirit to do so. You cannot receive from the Word of God unless you have a spiritual mind because only God can provide revelation. Only the Spirit can give us the heart and mind to understand what is spiritual. What is so difficult to understand, that the Word of God can only be understood by the mind possessed by the Spirit of God?
People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. (Romans 8:5)
The Spirit, through apostle Paul, made it plan for us to see:
Every word we speak was taught to us by God’s Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people. (1 Corinthains 2:13)
Spiritual things to spiritual people. And by this Paul refers to those possessed by the Spirit of God. It is great that we have accepted Jesus as Saviour but to grow spiritually, to be one with Jesus, to understand the revelation of the Word of God, we must be Holy Spirit possessed. We can understand nothing but our selfish desires when we try to understand in our flesh.
I read a lot of "junk food" theology in the sphere of social networking, but much of it is propagated by people who have understood the Word through their flesh. Certainly they have taken courses and may even have letters behind their name, but it does not mean they are anointed by the Spirit. Many are unpiritual people teaching an unspiritual people, and it is just creating a mess. It is not a new phenomena:
My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That’s why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
I encourage you, if you want to dig deep into the revelation of God, into his holy Word, then cry out to God to be possessed by his Spirit. Die to your own understanding and caste away your selfish desires. Soak in the Spirit, making sure that you are fully surrendered, then ask God to open your eyes to the Word. There is nothing new under the sun but that does not mean you understand what is of the Spirit. Make it your heart desire and God will see that you receive it and he will give you a spiritual mind.
So many people approach the Word of God as they would a novel, a book of history, or some impossible thing to understand, and approaching it in such a way will make it impossible to understand. What is worse is when we approach it like unbelieving theologians, tearing it apart like some ancient text book that has to be proven or disproved. The Word of God does not need to be defended any more than the Ark of the Convenient needed to be protected. It is not in need of being proven. It is from God, of God, holy and protected by him. He will defend it. He will prove it.
I cannot teach you the Word of God unless I am anointed by the Spirit to do so. You cannot receive from the Word of God unless you have a spiritual mind because only God can provide revelation. Only the Spirit can give us the heart and mind to understand what is spiritual. What is so difficult to understand, that the Word of God can only be understood by the mind possessed by the Spirit of God?
People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. (Romans 8:5)
The Spirit, through apostle Paul, made it plan for us to see:
Every word we speak was taught to us by God’s Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people. (1 Corinthains 2:13)
Spiritual things to spiritual people. And by this Paul refers to those possessed by the Spirit of God. It is great that we have accepted Jesus as Saviour but to grow spiritually, to be one with Jesus, to understand the revelation of the Word of God, we must be Holy Spirit possessed. We can understand nothing but our selfish desires when we try to understand in our flesh.
I read a lot of "junk food" theology in the sphere of social networking, but much of it is propagated by people who have understood the Word through their flesh. Certainly they have taken courses and may even have letters behind their name, but it does not mean they are anointed by the Spirit. Many are unpiritual people teaching an unspiritual people, and it is just creating a mess. It is not a new phenomena:
My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That’s why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
I encourage you, if you want to dig deep into the revelation of God, into his holy Word, then cry out to God to be possessed by his Spirit. Die to your own understanding and caste away your selfish desires. Soak in the Spirit, making sure that you are fully surrendered, then ask God to open your eyes to the Word. There is nothing new under the sun but that does not mean you understand what is of the Spirit. Make it your heart desire and God will see that you receive it and he will give you a spiritual mind.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
It's Time To Put Equality In Its Place
There was an article in one of my city`s local papers that spoke a truth that many people want to deny. For decades women have fought for equal rights but a branch of them are not interested in equality, they want to be better. On the other end we have most men who don`t want any trouble and want to be politically correct. This article pointed out what the Church should have been teaching for years : It is not about equality because men and women are not equal in ability, but they are complimentary. Women are great at some things and men at others but when put together we make a whole. Maybe the difference is too subtle to see but it is an important difference.
God made it clear that the responsibility to lead was given to the male gender. Of course, our sinful nature took that and twisted it as it does with all good things God has called into being. However, it is also true that no man can lead properly unless his wife allows him. Yes, I said allow him. A wife can dominate her husband quite easily, and those who are married know exactly what I am talking about. Women, in disobedience to God, have all that is required to take over leadership from their husbands. It is never a question of ability and always a matter of obedience.
Women are strong, intelligent, determined, insightful, compassionate and very capable of doing anything they put their mind to. It has been that way since the beginning. Personally, considering that God made women last and gave her the ability to incubate life, I think she is his crowning glory in all of creation. But he did not intend for her to lead. It has nothing to do with being second class in the Kingdom because she is a compliment to her husband as her husband is to her. The greatest things are going to happen when a couple understand and walk in their God-appointed roles and work together instead of against each other. It is fantastic when it works; it is disastrous when it doesn`t.
Paul gave Timothy a warning about those who were teaching false things about God. Paul knew that if these men were able to capture the heart of the woman it would affect the whole family:
Some men fool whole families, just to get power over those women who are slaves of sin and are controlled by all sorts of desires. (2 Timothy 3:6)
I will tell you right now a truth that his been proven over the ages: women are the hearts of their family. They can be the worse mothers, make huge mistakes, anger their children but they will always have the hearts of their children. Forgiveness comes for a mother whether she asks for it or not. Sure, children get angry, daughters don`t talk to them for years as teenagers, but watch what happens when the hormones come back into place. I am telling you, no matter what, we love our moms. If dads make those same mistakes, look out, they`ll still be hearing about it in 40 years from now.
Why do you think the Church is filled with more women than men? I think in many ways women have a deeper understanding of God's heart. Father's love their children, work hard to give them a better life, would lay down their lives for them and cherish them dearly, but we have never had the physical bond of a mother with them.There is something to it that only God and women really understand. I marvel at it and sometimes I am envious of it, but it doesn't rob me of my responsibility to lead. I have a wife that makes sure of that, who speaks to me with great insights of how I should approach the children and how best to deal with some difficult situations, especially with my girls. She makes me a better leader and is obedient to God by allowing me to lead. But if she wanted to, she could destroy with a word.
If sin grips the heart of the woman, if she embraces false teaching and allows others to lead her astray, then the whole family is in trouble. That is my place to protect my wife, to lead, to make sure we stay in step together with the Spirit, to insure that our lives are based solidly on the Word of God. I am responsible to keep a guard over my house so that no thieves sneak in and steal away what belongs to God. I need to know and understand the desires of my wife's heart so that I can help guide in God's holiness and righteousness. There is nothing so powerful as a woman with a righteous heart and there is nothing so destructive as a woman possessed by evil desires.
The Spirit gave Paul an interesting insight as he added:
These women always want to learn something new, but they never can discover the truth. (v. 7)
Just because someone wants to learn doesn't mean they can. A life of disobedience does not allow for applied insight. The Word of God is not some great academic book to receive certificates of learning for studying it. It is not filled with theories to discuss with friends. It is not a book of philosophy to be picked apart. It is the revelation of God, about God and what he has done for us. It is something that provokes us into action. The only way to truly understand it is to have the Holy Spirit write it on your heart and to live it. Disobedience is a roadblock in this process.
So let's throw the world's definition of equality out the window along with the other philosophies of this place and let's start living the Word of God. Men and women are complimentary and we must be obedient to our roles. Maybe we are uncomfortable with them but sometimes we must do things that make us uncomfortable at first. Husband and wives were but together as a team and as a team they must walk together. When they do, great things are going to happen for the glory of God.
God made it clear that the responsibility to lead was given to the male gender. Of course, our sinful nature took that and twisted it as it does with all good things God has called into being. However, it is also true that no man can lead properly unless his wife allows him. Yes, I said allow him. A wife can dominate her husband quite easily, and those who are married know exactly what I am talking about. Women, in disobedience to God, have all that is required to take over leadership from their husbands. It is never a question of ability and always a matter of obedience.
Women are strong, intelligent, determined, insightful, compassionate and very capable of doing anything they put their mind to. It has been that way since the beginning. Personally, considering that God made women last and gave her the ability to incubate life, I think she is his crowning glory in all of creation. But he did not intend for her to lead. It has nothing to do with being second class in the Kingdom because she is a compliment to her husband as her husband is to her. The greatest things are going to happen when a couple understand and walk in their God-appointed roles and work together instead of against each other. It is fantastic when it works; it is disastrous when it doesn`t.
Paul gave Timothy a warning about those who were teaching false things about God. Paul knew that if these men were able to capture the heart of the woman it would affect the whole family:
Some men fool whole families, just to get power over those women who are slaves of sin and are controlled by all sorts of desires. (2 Timothy 3:6)
I will tell you right now a truth that his been proven over the ages: women are the hearts of their family. They can be the worse mothers, make huge mistakes, anger their children but they will always have the hearts of their children. Forgiveness comes for a mother whether she asks for it or not. Sure, children get angry, daughters don`t talk to them for years as teenagers, but watch what happens when the hormones come back into place. I am telling you, no matter what, we love our moms. If dads make those same mistakes, look out, they`ll still be hearing about it in 40 years from now.
Why do you think the Church is filled with more women than men? I think in many ways women have a deeper understanding of God's heart. Father's love their children, work hard to give them a better life, would lay down their lives for them and cherish them dearly, but we have never had the physical bond of a mother with them.There is something to it that only God and women really understand. I marvel at it and sometimes I am envious of it, but it doesn't rob me of my responsibility to lead. I have a wife that makes sure of that, who speaks to me with great insights of how I should approach the children and how best to deal with some difficult situations, especially with my girls. She makes me a better leader and is obedient to God by allowing me to lead. But if she wanted to, she could destroy with a word.
If sin grips the heart of the woman, if she embraces false teaching and allows others to lead her astray, then the whole family is in trouble. That is my place to protect my wife, to lead, to make sure we stay in step together with the Spirit, to insure that our lives are based solidly on the Word of God. I am responsible to keep a guard over my house so that no thieves sneak in and steal away what belongs to God. I need to know and understand the desires of my wife's heart so that I can help guide in God's holiness and righteousness. There is nothing so powerful as a woman with a righteous heart and there is nothing so destructive as a woman possessed by evil desires.
The Spirit gave Paul an interesting insight as he added:
These women always want to learn something new, but they never can discover the truth. (v. 7)
Just because someone wants to learn doesn't mean they can. A life of disobedience does not allow for applied insight. The Word of God is not some great academic book to receive certificates of learning for studying it. It is not filled with theories to discuss with friends. It is not a book of philosophy to be picked apart. It is the revelation of God, about God and what he has done for us. It is something that provokes us into action. The only way to truly understand it is to have the Holy Spirit write it on your heart and to live it. Disobedience is a roadblock in this process.
So let's throw the world's definition of equality out the window along with the other philosophies of this place and let's start living the Word of God. Men and women are complimentary and we must be obedient to our roles. Maybe we are uncomfortable with them but sometimes we must do things that make us uncomfortable at first. Husband and wives were but together as a team and as a team they must walk together. When they do, great things are going to happen for the glory of God.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Please, Be Careful Out There
There is a lot of noise out there. Our current age has more access to knowledge than any age in the past and knowledge continues to increase. This is good but with the good also comes the bad. As knowledge increases it seems our wisdom decreases. It seems we understand less and less what to do with our knowledge. There also seems to be a lack of discernment as we confuse knowledge and "wives` tales". In case you did not realize it, not every source is a good source on the Internet.
I am not excluding the Biblical teaching and the Christian following out there from this lack of wisdom. It is wonderful that there is such a great vehicle for carrying the message of Jesus but not all of what is out there is real or true. In fact, we are poised to see the great following away, as people chase after the false teachings of demons, just as the Word says. I am not saying the people spreading the wrong teaching are demons but demons are behind their influence.
There is real danger in preferring to watch videos and read tweets to gain your spiritual understanding instead of reading and studying the Word of God. Have we forgotten that the Holy Spirit is our teacher? It is he who gives us the ability to know and understand. When we study for ourselves he guides us and where we lack maturity to understand him, he gives us teachers to train us. But teachers have a personal relationship with us. It has to be more than a video series on You Tube, as great as they are. We need to be seeking God's face ourselves, not relying on someone else's revelation.
Jesus has placed solid men and women of faith around us to help us stick to solid doctrine. I am not referring to denominational doctrine, as great as they may be. The greater doctrine is that which comes directly from the Word of God and is pressed upon us by the Holy Spirit. A mature teacher will not lift up one denomination over another, but will always put the Word of God first. It is important that we have a good relationship with such people; people we can trust and who love us, whose interest is not in building their own following but to see us mature in Jesus. Paul wrote to Timothy:
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:13)
We always seem to be running after new ideas, new insights, new teaching, but we haven't figured out what we have already been given. Just the subjects of faith, hope and love will take us an eternity to explore. Many rush right by grace not understanding the foundational importance in our relationship with God and others. I know it may not seem like the greatest fade in the Church or the coolest thing happening. I realize that some churches down the street are having multimedia event teaching on the end times or on the place of homosexuals in the church or on how to improve sex in your marriage but if you would stay where you are and learn about God's grace from the Word, all these other things will come into focus as well.
There is a lot of weird stuff being taught out there, and it's appearing on a computer screen right in your home. If you solidly stand on the Word and are trained in it, you will spot the false stuff. It's a great opportunity to grow in knowledge these days, but please, be careful out there. You are hated and the enemy's only desire is to see you defeated, and separated from Jesus. Learn to lean on the Spirit and trust him. He will keep your path straight.
I am not excluding the Biblical teaching and the Christian following out there from this lack of wisdom. It is wonderful that there is such a great vehicle for carrying the message of Jesus but not all of what is out there is real or true. In fact, we are poised to see the great following away, as people chase after the false teachings of demons, just as the Word says. I am not saying the people spreading the wrong teaching are demons but demons are behind their influence.
There is real danger in preferring to watch videos and read tweets to gain your spiritual understanding instead of reading and studying the Word of God. Have we forgotten that the Holy Spirit is our teacher? It is he who gives us the ability to know and understand. When we study for ourselves he guides us and where we lack maturity to understand him, he gives us teachers to train us. But teachers have a personal relationship with us. It has to be more than a video series on You Tube, as great as they are. We need to be seeking God's face ourselves, not relying on someone else's revelation.
Jesus has placed solid men and women of faith around us to help us stick to solid doctrine. I am not referring to denominational doctrine, as great as they may be. The greater doctrine is that which comes directly from the Word of God and is pressed upon us by the Holy Spirit. A mature teacher will not lift up one denomination over another, but will always put the Word of God first. It is important that we have a good relationship with such people; people we can trust and who love us, whose interest is not in building their own following but to see us mature in Jesus. Paul wrote to Timothy:
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:13)
We always seem to be running after new ideas, new insights, new teaching, but we haven't figured out what we have already been given. Just the subjects of faith, hope and love will take us an eternity to explore. Many rush right by grace not understanding the foundational importance in our relationship with God and others. I know it may not seem like the greatest fade in the Church or the coolest thing happening. I realize that some churches down the street are having multimedia event teaching on the end times or on the place of homosexuals in the church or on how to improve sex in your marriage but if you would stay where you are and learn about God's grace from the Word, all these other things will come into focus as well.
There is a lot of weird stuff being taught out there, and it's appearing on a computer screen right in your home. If you solidly stand on the Word and are trained in it, you will spot the false stuff. It's a great opportunity to grow in knowledge these days, but please, be careful out there. You are hated and the enemy's only desire is to see you defeated, and separated from Jesus. Learn to lean on the Spirit and trust him. He will keep your path straight.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Not Everyone Is A Teacher
The internet is a wonderful thing, making the sharing of information fast and simple. It allows people on opposites sides of the earth to be friends. It opens up a whole new world of support and encouragement. The internet is also a terrible thing, making the sharing of false information fast and simple. It allows people on the opposite sides of the earth to bully each other. It opens up a whole new world of sin and destruction. Like anything else, the internet is only a tool and how it will be used depends on the heart of the person using it.
This is good to keep in mind when speaking with people you have never met. It is good to keep in mind when reading teachings about God's Word from people you don't know, like me. There are a lot of people on the internet teaching a lot of different things. It doesn't mean they are called to that. It doesn't mean they have the anointing. It doesn't mean they have a right relationship with Jesus. It just means they have an opinion. Anyone can have an opinion, it doesn't mean it is supported by the Word of God. More than ever we need to pray for a spirit of discernment, that the Holy Spirit will guide us in all knowledge, truth and wisdom. It always starts by reading the Bible for yourself.
God warns us:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. (Colossians 2:18)
I have met a lot of "puffed up" people on the internet. One of the tell tale signs is if they go to church or not. Do they belong to a church they have submitted themselves to, to whom they are accountable? Jesus did not leave us to go it alone. He placed us in a Body because each member has something that the others need. We have been placed in a Body where we depend on each other to grow and mature into the fullness of Jesus. Just read 1 Corinthians 12 and understand that I need you and you need me to function as Jesus intends for us to function. Those who chose to go it alone, saying the church is full of hypocrites and turning their back on God's design and purpose, are a danger to themselves and others. Again we are warned:
He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (Colossians 2:19)
It is amazing how quickly a person loses connection with the Head when he turns his back on the Body. Yet, he is so arrogant and full of self knowledge that he thinks he is the only one with the truth and he needs to "save" everyone from the false teachings. If such a person does not know the importance of the Church then he does not know as he aught to know.
Be careful who you submit to when it comes Bible teaching. Be careful of the popular quotes that float around. Check them against the Word of God. If you have doubts, go ask your pastor or youth pastor. Do not allow a false thought or teaching take root in your mind. And above all else, pray for discernment, that you will correctly understand and live the Word of God.
This is good to keep in mind when speaking with people you have never met. It is good to keep in mind when reading teachings about God's Word from people you don't know, like me. There are a lot of people on the internet teaching a lot of different things. It doesn't mean they are called to that. It doesn't mean they have the anointing. It doesn't mean they have a right relationship with Jesus. It just means they have an opinion. Anyone can have an opinion, it doesn't mean it is supported by the Word of God. More than ever we need to pray for a spirit of discernment, that the Holy Spirit will guide us in all knowledge, truth and wisdom. It always starts by reading the Bible for yourself.
God warns us:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. (Colossians 2:18)
I have met a lot of "puffed up" people on the internet. One of the tell tale signs is if they go to church or not. Do they belong to a church they have submitted themselves to, to whom they are accountable? Jesus did not leave us to go it alone. He placed us in a Body because each member has something that the others need. We have been placed in a Body where we depend on each other to grow and mature into the fullness of Jesus. Just read 1 Corinthians 12 and understand that I need you and you need me to function as Jesus intends for us to function. Those who chose to go it alone, saying the church is full of hypocrites and turning their back on God's design and purpose, are a danger to themselves and others. Again we are warned:
He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (Colossians 2:19)
It is amazing how quickly a person loses connection with the Head when he turns his back on the Body. Yet, he is so arrogant and full of self knowledge that he thinks he is the only one with the truth and he needs to "save" everyone from the false teachings. If such a person does not know the importance of the Church then he does not know as he aught to know.
Be careful who you submit to when it comes Bible teaching. Be careful of the popular quotes that float around. Check them against the Word of God. If you have doubts, go ask your pastor or youth pastor. Do not allow a false thought or teaching take root in your mind. And above all else, pray for discernment, that you will correctly understand and live the Word of God.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Are You In Need Of More Energy?
I am interrupting my regularly scheduled blog to bring you what is on my heart today. I was at prayer meeting last night and as I prayed the Spirit put words in my mouth that I began to listen to. That's the funny thing about prayer, if we really listen to the Spirit we end up being a mouth piece for what God wants released in prayer instead of our own thoughts.
I had a young man write me once to ask me what he should do. He was finding he had no energy or drive to do anything. My response was simple: Get off the couch. Sounds dumb but it isn't. Physically the best way to gain energy is to spend energy. The more you are inactive the less energy you will have. If you want to increase your energy start a walking routine. The more you put out the more you gain. The same holds true spiritually.
We have an obesity problem in the Church and it is causing a lack of energy. We have a lot of people sitting around on the couch, being entertained. We fill ourselves up on the Word but we never do anything. We gain a lot of knowledge but we don't do anything with it. We are much into the theory of Jesus, we couch others from our armchairs, we are great at calling the game, but we do not get up and participate. We go to the stadium every week to sit in the stands and act as a roaring and excited crowd but we never get out on the field. We lack spiritual energy and intimacy with Jesus because we have no exercise routine. We have to spend energy to gain energy.
There is nothing more energizing than leading someone to Jesus. When we are actually living our faith, trusting God to give us the words to talk to people about Jesus, we grow in our intimacy with the Lord. When we are living with the purpose of being sensitive to the Spirit we come alive in our own spirit. Suddenly we are a lot more aware of what God is doing around us and we want to be even more involved. Suddenly we are constantly aware of his presence, his will and desire for us, his call for us to take action. We are moving from cheering fan to full flung player with a desire to pour all of our energy into the game.
Of course it isn't a game. This is about life and death for people lost in a dying world. We seem to lose sight of the fact that this is not about us and everything about them. We are not here to gain all the "toys" or build our own little kingdoms. We aren't even here to have a comfortable life. We are here to tell others about Jesus. We are here to work out our salvation daily and this is done as we do the Word of God. We are participants in this war, not spectators.
It is great that people have a hunger for the Word and that they want to gain knowledge, but there is more to it than that. The Word of God must be put into action in our life and to do that we have to get off the couch. This world has a lot of distractions, some of which are interesting and attractive, but it is not for us to step aside from our calling and rest for a while. James says it best:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
So, it's time to get up off of that couch and gain some spiritually energy. It's time to get into the game. It's time to come alive in Jesus. Put into action all that knowledge you have gained. Just do it.
I had a young man write me once to ask me what he should do. He was finding he had no energy or drive to do anything. My response was simple: Get off the couch. Sounds dumb but it isn't. Physically the best way to gain energy is to spend energy. The more you are inactive the less energy you will have. If you want to increase your energy start a walking routine. The more you put out the more you gain. The same holds true spiritually.
We have an obesity problem in the Church and it is causing a lack of energy. We have a lot of people sitting around on the couch, being entertained. We fill ourselves up on the Word but we never do anything. We gain a lot of knowledge but we don't do anything with it. We are much into the theory of Jesus, we couch others from our armchairs, we are great at calling the game, but we do not get up and participate. We go to the stadium every week to sit in the stands and act as a roaring and excited crowd but we never get out on the field. We lack spiritual energy and intimacy with Jesus because we have no exercise routine. We have to spend energy to gain energy.
There is nothing more energizing than leading someone to Jesus. When we are actually living our faith, trusting God to give us the words to talk to people about Jesus, we grow in our intimacy with the Lord. When we are living with the purpose of being sensitive to the Spirit we come alive in our own spirit. Suddenly we are a lot more aware of what God is doing around us and we want to be even more involved. Suddenly we are constantly aware of his presence, his will and desire for us, his call for us to take action. We are moving from cheering fan to full flung player with a desire to pour all of our energy into the game.
Of course it isn't a game. This is about life and death for people lost in a dying world. We seem to lose sight of the fact that this is not about us and everything about them. We are not here to gain all the "toys" or build our own little kingdoms. We aren't even here to have a comfortable life. We are here to tell others about Jesus. We are here to work out our salvation daily and this is done as we do the Word of God. We are participants in this war, not spectators.
It is great that people have a hunger for the Word and that they want to gain knowledge, but there is more to it than that. The Word of God must be put into action in our life and to do that we have to get off the couch. This world has a lot of distractions, some of which are interesting and attractive, but it is not for us to step aside from our calling and rest for a while. James says it best:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
So, it's time to get up off of that couch and gain some spiritually energy. It's time to get into the game. It's time to come alive in Jesus. Put into action all that knowledge you have gained. Just do it.
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