Psalm 25:4-5
Show me your ways, O LORD teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
When I read the Bible, I do it with doctrinal glasses. I read it with my own personal theology in place. I think this is a practice we all do to some extent, but I also think it’s a dangerous one. We pick up beliefs of the church we attend, or of our family, or from the books we read. Many of the beliefs you’ve learned about God and the Bible are probably true, but some may not be.
When I read the Bible, I’m always inserting my own opinions into the text. If a difficult or challenging passage comes up I’ll say something like, “What Jesus really meant is...” or “God couldn’t possibly be saying that.” It’s a dangerous trap we fall into, but it’s one that is so cleverly hidden and so easy to fall into. The Devil loves it when we take the Word and turn it into my word. Christ loves it “...when you hold to my teaching...”(John 8:31). Jesus says his word is truth, and the truth will set you free.
Scripture is like a prisoner of war. If you torture it enough it will say whatever you what. When we look at the Bible with our own preconceived theology and beliefs, we take away some of the power. Christ wants you to be set free, and only the truth will set you free. Your own personal version of what you think the truth really means is not what sets you free. When we put our own spin on Scripture, we are cheating ourselves from the freedom we could have.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
I think the reason we do this so often is because we get uncomfortable with what God is trying to tell us, so instead we tell God, “I know you said this, but here is what you really meant.” It is so foolish when we humans try to correct our perfect Creator. To try to correct God is to say he is not perfect. When the Word challenges you, it is doing what it’s supposed to do. It is meant to judge the thoughts an attitudes of your heart. God’s Word is meant to show you who He is, who you are, and how you should be. It reveals the problems in your heart. But we get comfortable with the way we are and we don’t want to change, because change is painful.
If you are ready to read God’s Word and not avoid the change that will come with it, then try this: Think about the verses of the psalm I quoted earlier.
Show me your ways, O LORD teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Think about these words often. Read them Before you do your normal Bible reading. Pray them to God. Keep reminding yourself that you are reading the Bible, not to affirm your own beliefs, but to learn the ways of the Lord. If you have the right attitude about God’s truth, it will be much harder for Satan to trap you. You will learn to recognize when you are changing the meaning, and you can stop. Always remember to pray for the Lord's truth to be made known in your life.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
100%
What is your heart?
It was once said, "The heart is the state of reason and will. The heart is the source, or spring of motives; the seat of passions; the center of thought processes; the spring of conscience.”
It's your personality, your will, mind, emotions, and your conscience; whatever is in your heart is what you will become. It is so profoundly affected by what comes in and takes root there, which is why we need to fill our hearts with God and not with worldly things.
In Proverbs, it talks a lot about the things of our heart. In 2:10 it talks about wisdom, evil and deceit in 6:14, lust, in verse 25, joy, in 12:20, folly, 12:23, anxiousness, in 12:25, happiness, in 15:13, Knowledge, and pride in 16:5. And many more.
As you can see, both the good and the bad things in life come from our hearts. In the Old Testament alone the word heart appears 855 times. What we let in our hearts is very important.
We need to commit all of our heart to the Lord, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
God doesn't want 50%, or 70%, or even 99.9%; God wants all 100%
Does the hymn go, "Seek ye second the kingdom of God..."? No it says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." We are told to keep Jesus first in our lives and we can only do that if our hearts our 100% committed to him.
So we need to give our hearts to God, but how?
First we need to guard our hearts from sin. Martin Luther put it this way:
"To fight against sin is to fight against the devil, the world, and oneself. The fight against oneself is the worst fight of all."
We are called to fight all of these things; we need to deny ourselves daily and take up our cross.
A man named Charles Bridges said the heart is the citadel, and we must be careful to guard it:
“Let it be closely garrisoned. Let the sentinel never be sleeping at it's post...If the citadel is taken, the whole town must surrender. If the heart is seized, the whole man-the affections, desires, motives, pursuits-all will be yielded up. The heart is the vital part of the body. A wound here is instant death. Thus, Spiritually as well as naturally, out of the heart are the issues of life. It is the great vital spring of the soul, the fountains of actions, the center of the seat of principle, both sin and holiness. The natural is a fountain of poison. The purified heart is a wall of living water. As is the fountain, so must be the streams. As the heart, so must be the mouth, the eyes, the feet. Therefore, above all else, keep your heart. Guard the fountain, lest the waters be poisoned...”
Above all else we must keep our hearts.
We need to get close to God.
Lets say you have a little child: he's a good kid, he's respectful, kind, obedient, and he loves his parents. But then he starts hanging around with a foul mouthed, rude, mean kid. Pretty soon your nice, kind kid is going to act like the rude one. He will start to mouth off to his parents, he won't do what he's told, and he'll throw fits.
Who the kid spent the most time with effected him, what he let in his heart affected him.
What are you spending the most time with? Your TV? Your computer? Your friends and family? Or are you spending the most time with God?
Whatever you spend your time with is what you will grow like. Make sure the things you spend your time on are good, and make sure your spending time with God.
How do spend time with God? It's easy.
Listen to him, you don't need to hear him physically to listen. Read his word! Sometimes we act like a young art student who said, "I can't learn to paint till I get a teacher. All I have is a book called How to Paint by Leonardo Da Vinci." He had the teaching of a master. So do we. Read it. Study it. Learn from it.
We also need to pray. God speaks to us though his word, and we need to talk to him through prayer.
Praise him. You don't need to be at church to sing songs to him. You can sing anywhere, in your car, in the shower, or, if you're like me, while cleaning a pig pen. But singing is not the only way to praise him, tell God how awesome He is, He already knows but doesn't it make you happy to get a compliment?
Lastly, be honest. Tell God you’re not as close to him as you should be, ask him to come in to you, and help you be more committed.
It was once said, "The heart is the state of reason and will. The heart is the source, or spring of motives; the seat of passions; the center of thought processes; the spring of conscience.”
It's your personality, your will, mind, emotions, and your conscience; whatever is in your heart is what you will become. It is so profoundly affected by what comes in and takes root there, which is why we need to fill our hearts with God and not with worldly things.
In Proverbs, it talks a lot about the things of our heart. In 2:10 it talks about wisdom, evil and deceit in 6:14, lust, in verse 25, joy, in 12:20, folly, 12:23, anxiousness, in 12:25, happiness, in 15:13, Knowledge, and pride in 16:5. And many more.
As you can see, both the good and the bad things in life come from our hearts. In the Old Testament alone the word heart appears 855 times. What we let in our hearts is very important.
We need to commit all of our heart to the Lord, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
God doesn't want 50%, or 70%, or even 99.9%; God wants all 100%
Does the hymn go, "Seek ye second the kingdom of God..."? No it says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." We are told to keep Jesus first in our lives and we can only do that if our hearts our 100% committed to him.
So we need to give our hearts to God, but how?
First we need to guard our hearts from sin. Martin Luther put it this way:
"To fight against sin is to fight against the devil, the world, and oneself. The fight against oneself is the worst fight of all."
We are called to fight all of these things; we need to deny ourselves daily and take up our cross.
A man named Charles Bridges said the heart is the citadel, and we must be careful to guard it:
“Let it be closely garrisoned. Let the sentinel never be sleeping at it's post...If the citadel is taken, the whole town must surrender. If the heart is seized, the whole man-the affections, desires, motives, pursuits-all will be yielded up. The heart is the vital part of the body. A wound here is instant death. Thus, Spiritually as well as naturally, out of the heart are the issues of life. It is the great vital spring of the soul, the fountains of actions, the center of the seat of principle, both sin and holiness. The natural is a fountain of poison. The purified heart is a wall of living water. As is the fountain, so must be the streams. As the heart, so must be the mouth, the eyes, the feet. Therefore, above all else, keep your heart. Guard the fountain, lest the waters be poisoned...”
Above all else we must keep our hearts.
We need to get close to God.
Lets say you have a little child: he's a good kid, he's respectful, kind, obedient, and he loves his parents. But then he starts hanging around with a foul mouthed, rude, mean kid. Pretty soon your nice, kind kid is going to act like the rude one. He will start to mouth off to his parents, he won't do what he's told, and he'll throw fits.
Who the kid spent the most time with effected him, what he let in his heart affected him.
What are you spending the most time with? Your TV? Your computer? Your friends and family? Or are you spending the most time with God?
Whatever you spend your time with is what you will grow like. Make sure the things you spend your time on are good, and make sure your spending time with God.
How do spend time with God? It's easy.
Listen to him, you don't need to hear him physically to listen. Read his word! Sometimes we act like a young art student who said, "I can't learn to paint till I get a teacher. All I have is a book called How to Paint by Leonardo Da Vinci." He had the teaching of a master. So do we. Read it. Study it. Learn from it.
We also need to pray. God speaks to us though his word, and we need to talk to him through prayer.
Praise him. You don't need to be at church to sing songs to him. You can sing anywhere, in your car, in the shower, or, if you're like me, while cleaning a pig pen. But singing is not the only way to praise him, tell God how awesome He is, He already knows but doesn't it make you happy to get a compliment?
Lastly, be honest. Tell God you’re not as close to him as you should be, ask him to come in to you, and help you be more committed.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Check Your Temperature
"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain." - A.W. Tozer
“ ...What a a beautiful gift it is to have the one you love look you in the eye and say, ‘I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you.’ Can you say that to God?” -Francis Chan
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” -Revelation 3:15-17
There is a deadly disease infecting our churches. I see it all the time. There isn’t one person who is immune, but there are a few who survive this cancer and live to tell about it.
I’m talking about complacency.
So many of us “Christians” have become lukewarm. We lack the true desire, love and devotion our Savior demands. We want a nice comfortable balanced life. We go to church, we do good things and give to charity now and again, but these things are not what being a true Christian is all about.
Francis Chan writes in his book Crazy Love:
“Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but he isn’t allowed to control their lives.”
Christ doesn’t want lukewarm followers, He wants people who are fully devoted to doing his will. To be a Christian is to follow Christ. Following Christ involves taking up your cross daily, denying yourself, and loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Are you doing these things? Can you honestly say Jesus is all you need? Would you forsake everything and follow Him? Do you love Him with every fiber of your being? Sadly, most people do not. Even in the church, it is hard to find truly devoted Christ followers. Most people just don’t think God is worth it, though they never say it. Most people never truly know God, nor do they want to.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. Following Jesus with all your heart makes you a Christian.
God doesn’t want fake love. Fake love is love that involves little or no sacrifice and commitment. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” If you are not obeying His commands, you do not love Him. It may sound harsh and judgmental, but that is what the Word says. We often get confused about what is necessary to get to Heaven. Do we need to do good works? Do we only need to say a prayer? Do we really need to give God our lives?
I’m not God and I’m in no place to judge others salvation, but what I think God really cares about is our hearts. He really does want you and me to give Him everything. If we have given Him everything, we will have no problem obeying His commands. In fact ,following his will becomes a joy. God wants you to step out of the crowd and be His. Only His. He doesn’t want you to be a lukewarm person, who is partly in God and partly in the world. He wants you to be hot, to be on fire! You must burn for Christ!
God is the Greatest good. Actually, he is the only good. The love he has for you reaches further than the universe. He doesn’t need to love you, but he does. He is perfect and chooses to love us imperfect, foolish beings. What he wants back is our love. He wants us to live a life where our love for him is shown to all the world, and His love for us. I know it’s not easy, but a time is coming when we won’t even have to try to love Him. We will see Him face to face. We will be made perfect, and be in perfect unity with our creator.
“ ...What a a beautiful gift it is to have the one you love look you in the eye and say, ‘I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you.’ Can you say that to God?” -Francis Chan
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” -Revelation 3:15-17
There is a deadly disease infecting our churches. I see it all the time. There isn’t one person who is immune, but there are a few who survive this cancer and live to tell about it.
I’m talking about complacency.
So many of us “Christians” have become lukewarm. We lack the true desire, love and devotion our Savior demands. We want a nice comfortable balanced life. We go to church, we do good things and give to charity now and again, but these things are not what being a true Christian is all about.
Francis Chan writes in his book Crazy Love:
“Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but he isn’t allowed to control their lives.”
Christ doesn’t want lukewarm followers, He wants people who are fully devoted to doing his will. To be a Christian is to follow Christ. Following Christ involves taking up your cross daily, denying yourself, and loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Are you doing these things? Can you honestly say Jesus is all you need? Would you forsake everything and follow Him? Do you love Him with every fiber of your being? Sadly, most people do not. Even in the church, it is hard to find truly devoted Christ followers. Most people just don’t think God is worth it, though they never say it. Most people never truly know God, nor do they want to.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. Following Jesus with all your heart makes you a Christian.
God doesn’t want fake love. Fake love is love that involves little or no sacrifice and commitment. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” If you are not obeying His commands, you do not love Him. It may sound harsh and judgmental, but that is what the Word says. We often get confused about what is necessary to get to Heaven. Do we need to do good works? Do we only need to say a prayer? Do we really need to give God our lives?
I’m not God and I’m in no place to judge others salvation, but what I think God really cares about is our hearts. He really does want you and me to give Him everything. If we have given Him everything, we will have no problem obeying His commands. In fact ,following his will becomes a joy. God wants you to step out of the crowd and be His. Only His. He doesn’t want you to be a lukewarm person, who is partly in God and partly in the world. He wants you to be hot, to be on fire! You must burn for Christ!
God is the Greatest good. Actually, he is the only good. The love he has for you reaches further than the universe. He doesn’t need to love you, but he does. He is perfect and chooses to love us imperfect, foolish beings. What he wants back is our love. He wants us to live a life where our love for him is shown to all the world, and His love for us. I know it’s not easy, but a time is coming when we won’t even have to try to love Him. We will see Him face to face. We will be made perfect, and be in perfect unity with our creator.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
My Goal
As Christians, I think many of us lose sight of what this life is about. We think this life is all about us. Arrogantly, we assume that if we live good lives, God will bless us. If I am good, God will give me a big house, a nice car, and a smokin’ hot spouse, right? Wrong. Christ has actually promised us trouble and persecution. In the words of Jesus, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
This world is not our home, and we must always remember that. If our focus is set upon our creator, we will have joy even in our trouble, for we know our reward is not of this world. When you see the rich person living the good life remember that for the unsaved, this world is the closest they will ever get to Heaven, but for us, the Christ follower, it is the closest we will get to Hell.
My goal in this blog is to help believers grow in their relationship with Christ, and to focus their lives on him. I'm not the smartest, or the most eloquent person, but I love the Lord. If he can use me in someway to help someone, then my efforts will be worth it.
If you have any questions about the Bible or living for Christ I would love to hear them. Like I said, I’m not the smartest, but I will do my very best to find you an answer from the Word. If you have any comments or questions shoot me an E-mail. driverbenjamin92@gmail.com
This world is not our home, and we must always remember that. If our focus is set upon our creator, we will have joy even in our trouble, for we know our reward is not of this world. When you see the rich person living the good life remember that for the unsaved, this world is the closest they will ever get to Heaven, but for us, the Christ follower, it is the closest we will get to Hell.
My goal in this blog is to help believers grow in their relationship with Christ, and to focus their lives on him. I'm not the smartest, or the most eloquent person, but I love the Lord. If he can use me in someway to help someone, then my efforts will be worth it.
If you have any questions about the Bible or living for Christ I would love to hear them. Like I said, I’m not the smartest, but I will do my very best to find you an answer from the Word. If you have any comments or questions shoot me an E-mail. driverbenjamin92@gmail.com
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