Spring Into God’s Word

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.  – 2 Timothy 2:15

I’m not one to voice righteous indignation very often.  I do my best to be a peace-loving, joyful child of God.  But sometimes I think silence is not golden, but plain yellow with cowardice.  I must speak to something that has bothered me for some months now.  This is a taping of The View from last February:

I’m livid.  Absolutely livid.  I know the Vice President does not read my humble little blog (yeah, right) – but I want him to know that there are MILLIONS of Christian folk in America and probably around the world praying for him.  Believers support fellow believers and lift them up in prayer, Joy!  Let’s call it a PERK!  It’s actually proved to be a great blessing in my life.

It’s often through the Words of Scripture that God speaks to His children (yes, Joy – God SPEAKS to us and we’re perfectly sane, thank you very much).  I pray that one day Joy, like the Apostle Paul, will see the light!  Literally.  Paul, I’m sure you recall, experienced a very, shall we say – dramatic conversion that left him blinded by the light (Acts 9:1-31).  You’ll also recall that he killed Christians before his conversion.  What a conversion that was, eh?  If God was to convert Joy, can you imagine how great that would be for Christianity?  She could do so much good in this world with God on her side.  Now she’s just making money.  Will she take it with her to eternity?  Um…  I don’t think so.

So, Christians, it’s not a far stretch to conclude that if we do not carve out the time to read the Bible, we will not hear from our Father.  If He’s not speaking to us, how will we hear?  The answer is…  we won’t.  Of course, prayer is the other way the Lord speaks to our hearts, but the combination of Scripture reading and prayer is the winning way to know exactly what God wants you to know.

It’s a faith thing, Joy…  I really pray that one day you’ll “get” it.  It’s very sad that you get paid well to make a mockery of my faith.  If you don’t understand it, the least you can do is RESPECT it and stop putting it down.  Mental illness is a serious accusation – not to be mocked and certainly not to be used in the same sentence with Christianity.  Stop it!  Shame on ABC for letting this continue!  I refuse to watch that network – I’m done with them until they pull “The View”.  

So let’s spring into God’s Word, the Holy Bible.  We rely on our Heavenly Father to direct our paths, and there are so many verses to help us!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  – Proverbs 3:5-6   

Our own understanding of things is often more of a misunderstanding.  If we will trust God, lean on Him and submit to Him, then He will make a way for us to walk that is straight and He will keep us in His peace and protection.  God can be trusted and His promises never fail.  He will never let you down.  If you want to reap a bounty of beauty – this is where to begin!  Our Lord wants us to be discerning and wise in everything.  He wants us to search His Word for ourselves and discover truths, then apply them to our life.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  – James 1:5

Ask God – that means we PRAY to God.  But see, it’s not a one-way conversation.  HE GIVES GENEROUSLY to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you!  Now, that’s not to say that God is a bubblegum machine.  We don’t insert a quarter and get a gumball.  Sometimes the gumball is not the color we may have wanted.  Sometimes it’s not the flavor we hoped for.  Sometimes it feels as though the gumball got stuck in the machine somewhere – but when God doesn’t answer a prayer just the way we think He should, it doesn’t mean that His ways are not the best ways.  It means that I need to trust that His way is better than my way.  Is it easy?  No.  Is it imperative that I learn to do that?  Yes.  He knows which gumball I need and when I need it.  

So, you see, the insane thing to do is talk to God and not stop talking long enough to let Him speak in return!  Who asks a question and just keeps talking, not waiting for the answer?  In faith, we receive answers from God’s precious Holy Spirit.  Faith… it’s better felt than telt.

We ask for wisdom, then trust that God hears our prayer and is working on our behalf the second we get finished praying!  Actually – He already knows what we need help with, and I think He starts the work before we even ask for help, but He still wants us to ask.  No parent wants their child to just assume things will be done for them.  They want to be asked and kept in the loop.  We are God’s children and it’s the same concept.  He wants to be kept in the loop.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  – John 10:27

We need The Bible – not just to keep on the coffee table gathering dust.  Open it every day and see what God has to say through it, to your heart.  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 JOHN 2:18 ON 2/18

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.  – 1 John 2:18 

If you’re on facebook, you’ve probably seen the different posts about the personality traits of people who have blue eyes, or green eyes, or brown eyes, or gray eyes.  Well, regardless of your “eye personality”, the Bible tells us we are to “watch and wait”…  in other words, stay alert to what’s going on around us.  We’re to know false teaching when we hear it, and we’re to have discernment from God’s Holy Spirit to spot false teachers when we see them.

It sounds like a tall order, but remember, we’re not in this alone.  If we ask our Father in Heaven, in Jesus’ name, to give us wisdom to discern – He surely will answer that prayer for us.  God’s not in the business of playing “gotcha” with his children.

I would remind you today that evil does not appear suddenly with great strength.  It’s subtle and eases its way in – because it wants to fit snuggly in with all the good around it.  Not to frighten or cause paranoid responses, but this is the reason we are to be alert to our surroundings.

Counterfeit money looks so real, doesn’t it?  It looks like the genuine article – but if you knew it was not real, would you try to pass it?  If you knew the teachings you listened to were false, would you still listen to them – or do you want to continue having your ears tickled?

The true teaching of God from His Holy Bible is never going to make us feel comfortable with the way we are.  We will always be challenged to grow and change – we will be interested in a mature relationship with the Lord and with others.  We will always want to be improving and getting better – the more close we get to God.

I have a pastor friend who will not preach from any version of the Bible but the King James.  Now, I have different versions – an NIV, the MSG, and even a GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN.  Once in a while he mentions that he won’t read or preach from anything but King James.  I get it – I really do.  I think we look at different versions to try to glean some deeper meaning sometimes – but he sticks with the “original” – (and yes, I know it’s not really the original, but I don’t know any other way to describe it).  We don’t want to fall for less than the God’s honest truth – even if it’s by accident.  Remember…  our enemy is sneaky.

We don’t know the hour when Jesus will return to earth to snatch up His children.  Let’s not be found sleeping in a stupor instead of learning and growing and maturing under true teaching.  🙂