All tagged truth
Our devotional reading today regarding quantity vs quality membership in churches is one that really strikes home. I have had this conversation with pastors, and others In the church many times before, and have even had a prophetic dream regarding it. Isaiah is quite right when he says that those who should see... often do not.
Yesterday we contemplated the parable of the sower and the importance of preparing the ground for God's word. Interestingly, that parable ends not only with words regarding those seeds, but how we should hear and use the parable. Today let’s look at how this parable can lead us to places in our lives that we never expected.
This morning we are contemplating the fact that God means what He says and that includes His Word regarding prayer. Scripture tells us as much. First and foremost to understanding this is the promise that God can't lie. But, how about us? We can, and we do lie, so how is it that we are able to come to the Lord in prayer? How is it that we can possibly be worthy of entering into His presence? It is by His perfect Word, and the promise He gives us in Jesus our redeemer.
Pentecost Sunday falls on May 19th this year, but in my devotional reading this morning E.M. Bounds wrote in affirmation of it and the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a reminder of this event I have included 4 verses of scripture beginning with the promise Jesus conveyed to us of the Comforter's coming....
This morning our devotional message is one of great promise... God cares for us. He answers our prayers, shoulders our burdens, heals us, comforts us, provides for us, and is always true to His Word. We are living in a pessimistic time when men and women, even in the highest of offices, don’t seem to know the truth. Yet we are asked to put our trust in them saying things like “He/she is the lesser of two evils.” Isn’t it wonderful to be able to turn to God and Jesus Christ knowing that in them there is no compromise, and that their Word is always true?
Do we depend solely on our own intellect to search out the wisdom of God? Do we study and ponder His Word ourselves in search of truth there, or do we use our intelligence like a shovel to feed our spirit God’s Word, while it works hand in hand with His Holy Spirit to seek and sift through it for those things that are of great spiritual value? When we depend upon our intellect alone it brings us very few of those wonderful revelations that we recognize as being of Him, but when our spirit is engaged with the Holy Spirit, it mines the most fantastic treasure for us from the glorious depths of God, and we encounter those wonderful “Ah Ha” moments of faith.
Do we understand that Jesus Christ had to die in order to secure our redemption, or do we think He was just a mythical character meant to describe morality to us in a how-to book called the Bible? Friends, the account is real, and not a story; it is the single greatest event to occur since creation, and is complete with all the miracles, wonders, suffering, awe, and yes, death. The Bible is the one true account of faith, and the never ending story of God’s love and creation that continues today.
Living our lives with Jesus is more than attaching a series of disjointed moments that have been separated by periods of time in which He is absent into something we then call our faith. God is never here and then gone, but is with us always and in all things. Our Lord Jesus doesn't abandon us to our own devices only to return once we have sufficiently screwed things up... He is with us always, and our relationship with Him is meant to be our unwavering focus.
Today I am thinking back to the moment when I confessed Jesus as my savior, and the events that brought me to that place. I am considering the strength of the gospel that I heard and comparing it to all the preaching I have heard since then. What made the message of my youth germinate in me? What have I heard since?
This morning I am contemplating the things of faith to which we are tempted to become blinded. I recall the words of Jesus regarding Jerusalem and ask myself if this could happen to the Church, and to me specifically. Could my religion become my hindrance and remove God’s pleasure from my life?
My thoughts this morning are on purity. What does it mean to be pure of heart, and how is it possible to reach this state of righteousness? By becoming pure we know that we will see God, so let's explore this subject.
Truth is always truth. I was reading a devotional message this morning on the subject of grace. The key verse it used was one that I thought I knew perfectly, and one that I had quoted many times, but as I read it anew this morning I suddenly realized that over the years I had stopped hearing it as a Word from God, and started saying it as though it was my statement of truth. I was claiming something for myself that belonged to God alone. I was boldly saying that God’s grace was sufficient for me, as if I controlled it, and I could make it so, when in fact this scripture is God telling us directly, and unequivocally, that it is so. Have you ever found yourself claiming that you own the truth in God’s Word? That by saying, or believing it, that you have somehow moved it from the realm of fiction, or literature, into one of fact and truth?
We are in need of many perfections of faith, and so often we can’t see in ourselves what we are lacking. Our spirit feels the presence of the void, and yet we can’t put that emptiness into words. As we kneel to pray, in the presence of such wounds, there is only unsettled silence because we are at a loss for words to express our inner suffering, and in that moment of despair and heartbreak, when our soul feels like it is being rent in two, the tears and groans well up in us, and the Holy Spirit begins to pray for us. He is our helper, and in merciful intercession, He prays in ways that we alone find ourselves unable. Does this sound familiar? Have we wrongly recognized a spiritual hole within ourselves as being human depression?
What comforts us most, is it that by our faith in Jesus Christ we have eternal life, or that God never lies? To find comfort in our belief that eternity awaits us, we must first believe that God doesn’t lie. One offers proof of the other.
As Christians we should be busily seeking a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ, and through Him, enjoying more intimate talks with God. In this way God will whisper to us, call us into His service, and reveal mysteries about Himself to us. We will have uplifting morning walks with Him, but often we will hear His voice in the dark of night, or while wandering in various wildernesses. There is no substitute for spending time in these challenging, quiet, solitary, and often painful, places with Him. Once we have been there, and He has confided in us, spoken of His will, or has otherwise blessed us with some revelation, it is our duty to shout it from the rooftops. Are we doing this, or are we hoarding what God has spoken to us in the hard times, quiet times, or the the times of trial and suffering? Are we quick to share the joys, but tight lipped about the more serious conversations we have? Our faith is not all about dancing and singing; we are meant to have the hard, difficult, and serious conversations as well.