Seeing through the Fog – In the Word
Sometimes
it seems as if we are reading in the fog as we study the Word of God. It’s as
if we miss the details and instructions for daily living and the fact that God
is still on the throne and we are supposed to live life according to His will
not just wing it and do what we think is right. You know what I am talking
about, there are some people who think are good enough to get to heaven.
I
was one of them until I found the scripture that said “… there is none good no
not one…” Psalm 14:3
I
figured I was not going to be good enough if I could not really be good in God’s
eyes; only Jesus is good enough. For God is good!
When
we know Jesus, and He knows us then God the Father sees Jesus in us, or in
other words He sees a sinless person who is full of the Holy Spirit.
Hey
lets face it we are all a bunch of sinners; but for the grace of God we would
stay in our sinful lives and continue to be not good enough. Thank God He found
a way to make us good enough for God!
When
we remember that all things we do or say are subject to His authority then we
can clear out the fog we walked into when we found it hard to understand or
miss read or miss spoke the meaning of what we read. We are human, we are fallible,
we will make mistakes and we will have to own up to them at some point. The
sooner the better!
Right
is right and wrong is wrong and we should know the difference. How great our
God is that he forgives us when we act upon our anger or when we covet the
neighbors hot rod with the flashy tires, God is good. We are not as quick to
forgive as our God is, that is one way to prove that God is good.
You answered them, O Lord our God; You
were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy. Psalm 99:8-9
Though You took vengeance on their deeds. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy. Psalm 99:8-9
God is a God who forgives us, and He is also a
God who heals us. When we follow the wrong path and often it is when we think
we are following the right one but step off a cliff or hit a rock in the way;
our God will heal our broken hearts and minds.
When we listen to misspoken teaching we can get
caught up in the wrong way of following Christ.
Some people think works alone can get them to
heaven, others think it takes God’s Grace that makes us whole and saved, and
alive again.
I was thinking today that I should right a Vacation Bible School
David got a new life; he became a great king
instead of a shepherd.
Saul the persecutor of Christians; became Paul the
persecuted for Christ.
James and John and Peter became Apostles and
followers of Christ when they changed from being fishermen to fish for men!
God can change a whole nation like Nineveh for repentance or He can wipe them out like Sodom and Gomorrah
I think that He is pretty clear what we need to
do with our lives. Our purpose is to do His purpose; His purpose in us is to
walk in His will and dig in His Word to know how to do so.
Someone once told me that if you have to ask if
you are walking in God’s will then you probably aren't. Jesus even said His
sheep hear his voice, and that we are known by our fruit; since these are both
true we must be able to know that we are or are not in His Will in our lives.
Do you have good fruit? Ask yourself these
questions;
Do I take time to pray for others?
Do I share what God has done for me in the world?
Like to people I don’t even know?
Do I look to the unbeliever like I am on the
inside and they are on the outside looking in? Do I make them want to be in the
In Crowd- Christians are the In Crowd, we are in Christ!
Do I obey the commands God has given us in His Word
to the best of my ability? Jesus did not come to throw away the law but to fulfill
the Law. Matthew 5:16-18
Do I go where Jesus says to go? Do I do what
Jesus said to do?
Do I love one another? John 15:11-13
Do I study to show myself approved rightly
dividing the Word in Truth? Likewise, exhort the
young men to be sober-minded, in
all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity,
reverence, incorruptibility sound speech that
cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing
evil to say of you. Titus 2:6-8
Wow that’s a long list
and I was just getting started. There are a lot of ways to show that you are a
Christian, a Follower of Christ Jesus the Lord.
Do good, love mercy.
All of the above hang on the nob that says to
trust God and do good; to believe that He is the Son of God and that He came to
die for us is only the beginning. From there we are clean slated new people who
have put away the old and embraced the newness of life in Christ.
When we study the Word of God we will understand what
His perfect will is.
And when there had been
much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my
mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy
Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by
faith. Acts 15:7-9
For
it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in
our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:5-8
This week lets get out
of the fog an ask the Holy Spirit in us to open our eyes to see the Word of God
as He wanted us to see it.
Dear Heavenly Father
grant us understanding in Your Word, today and every day as we read the Word of
God show us what it is that You want us to understand and apply it to our lives
that we may bring forth good fruit. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Suggested reading Acts
11:1-30, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, Titus 2:1-9, Colossians 2:1-21