It is so important to READ The Word of God daily. So many distractions, so many things that come and steal the day away.
But with all that is going on in the world today; the changes taking place, and the signs of the times as spoken of by The Lord, all around us ...
We have to SEIZE the time alone with God in prayer, reading, and meditation in The Word.
If we haven't kept up to now, lets start fresh; obeying the commands found in The Word to pray, to read, and to seek His face diligently. And very important; finding a church that teaches Biblical Truth. This too is a command. This is indeed the hardest thing to do today - because of all the deception out there. More today than ever before, God's Word has been altered, attacked, abused; and sometimes in a very subtle but evil way. And we know this isn't "innocent" ignorance more than it is spiritual deception because of its origins from as far back as the book of Genesis, when the evil one subtly altered God's Word in the garden.
We know this deception has to take place because Jesus warned us that false prophets would be one of the signs of the last days. The Bible also warns, "They will not endure sound doctrine" and that all these things would be in the increase. People will fall away by the masses!
It's going to take a lot of prayer that God place us in congregations that practice, preach and teach the TRUE Word. But my faith is that praying diligently to the Father for Truth and discernment, God will direct our paths just as He has promised.
Only then will we find the KNOWLEDGE of the Truth to KNOW HIM, and in knowing Him, we'll be able to identify and discern sound doctrine from false doctrine.
"For lack of knowledge, my people perish".
ONE RULE that we ALL have to adhere to: NEVER get offended regarding scripture, advice or correction. The Truth is the Truth, and there is only ONE Truth. If someone is teaching something questionable from the Bible, simply GO and check for yourself to see if it can be Biblically defended. The book of Proverbs teaches that we should never despise correction. If we're wrong, it's okay, we're human - being corrected is a good thing.
Always remember that there are contextual ways to understanding the Word. In other words, the literal understanding of what is read isn't always the true context in which to understand any particular verse. One has to take into consideration the verses before and after the passage in question, as well as cultural norms of those times, and who was the verse referring to at that time, etc. Unfortunately, many have made very bad interpretations of certain scriptures and a lot of them are now leading thousands of followers into ditches along with themselves.
Other people suppose that they can be a church all to themselves and so they won't listen to studies or interpretations of anyone other than themselves; and that's wrong also. There's nothing wrong with listening to a study or commentary, and then studying the scriptures later on for yourself.
One of the main obstacles in learning sound doctrine is the stubborn approach we have to TRUTH. People have a hard time accepting Truth because #1, it's up to God to unveil it to us, and only a humble heart and a heart willing to change can change. #2, they think that they can't continue learning but what they believed cannot possibly be misguided. But we have to remember that all of us were headed in a different direction when the Truth captured our attention from the start of our faith. That supernatural power continues on in our lives learning and growing in Christ.
The scriptures never need to defend themselves. God's Truth is eternal. When we correct false teaching, we're not defending the scriptures, we're lovingly guiding a brother or a sister away from false teaching, and pointing them back to the scripture to reevaluate, and it is the best way to do that.
Today, with so much false doctrine and so many false Christian gospels out there, how can one know what is truth? ... I believe the true "compass" is a person's true broken and humble heart before God (Psalm 51:17). Because the knowledge comes from God, revelation comes from God, sanctification comes from God, and God's Spirit is what draws us; therefore, He is the one who opens up the Truth to us. And once you know the Truth, you can also know the lie.
Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice"... "The voice of another they will not follow".
SECOND RULE: Don't be proud. We already know that it's nothing about US that holds Truth, it's about God. We aren't and never have been smart enough, enlightened enough or spiritual enough to have ever known about His Truth unless He lets us have it. Therefore, STUDY The Bible, study and search the scriptures to continue learning. Never believe that there isn't anything else to learn about God.
We all know that verses that we've read hundreds of times, sometimes enlighten us all repeatedly when we go on in the faith.
KNOW THE TRUE MESSAGE OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL: Far be it from what too many people want to accept, the message of the cross is NOT romantic, it's not meant to fit into a positive-motivational, and shallow sermon of self empowerment. But it's a message to the world of God's MERCY and JUDGMENT on mankind.
If it tickles the ear too much, you have to wonder WHY.
But the message of God striking His beloved, perfectly sinless, and only son for OUR sins! What does that say? ... again, "MERCY AND JUDGMENT".
MERCY (out of love) and JUDGMENT (out of perfect sovereign justice).
Despite what Oprah says, Jesus came to earth to die for our sins and He died for OUR sins so that we don't have to go through God's wrath. Therefore, what did Christ SAVE us from??? .....He saved us from GOD'S WRATH.
Therefore, those that do believe in Him won't have to go through wrath. But those that don't. .... The Bible says are ALREADY CONDEMNED...
Well, now you know THE MISSION of the Christian here on earth. To proclaim to those who are perishing. And who are the perishing??? ... Those that aren't putting Christ FIRST in their lives like Christ Himself commanded.
Knowing the perishing from the ones being saved is actually pretty easy to spot but we can ONLY start identifying WHO IS WHO by asking ourselves first,
"AM I PUTTING CHRIST BEFORE ALL THINGS IN LIFE"?? ... The answer to that question will tell you where you fall in relationship with Jesus Christ, the one who will judge the earth in righteous judgement.
So what is the news about Christ that every Christian should be heralding??? ............. REPENT!!! ... REPENT!!! ... REPENT!!!
If we only tell them "Jesus loves you", we're kinda leaving out something pretty important about the Gospel aren't we? ... Yes, we are.
Most people believe they're lovable, "good" people, and pretty swell, etc. But the Bible teaches quite the opposite about the human heart. Therefore,
the "love only" message is mercy without JUDGMENT, and it's incomplete, and NOT the full Gospel of Christ. Throughout the Bible, if a prophet or a "man of God" did not preach the "full counsel" of God, he was held responsible for those souls and couldn't have a clean conscious before God. Giving half a truth ISN'T Truth at all. And in Matthew Chapt. 28 we're commanded to "Go" make disciples of all nations" .. Therefore, WE are that man or woman of God in our age. And God has placed that commission upon us in a dying world where people all around us are moving on into eternity without knowing the FULL and TRUE Gospel of our savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Every one person who has been RENEWED and BORN AGAIN in Christ has a testimony to tell, and we can confidently begin with the miracle God has done in our personal lives when He put His Spirit within us.
God bless, seek Truth, and be bold.
HAPPY "RESURRECTION DAY"!
He has risen, and so have we - from death unto life eternal!
Amen.
