Tags
1 Corinthians 11:27-32, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothye 3:16-17, Dig in to God's Word, Get into God, Get into God's Word, God's Word IS Truth, Hebrews 12:5-11, Isaiah 51:7, Listening To God, Matthew 12:33-35, Matthew 15:16-20, Out of the heart, Psalm 119:10-11, Psalm 119:133, Psalm 139:23-24, Psalm 37:23-24, The Word Or The World?
Bible Ballistics: Vol. 17 No. 24 Searchlight Of HIS WORD???
I would like to challenge us today to examine our lives in light of what God’s Word says we are to ‘be’ and ‘do’. We are bombarded with so much conflicting information and choices, that it is imperative that we know what God says. I am truly weary of misinformation which some proclaim to be God’s Word, and people just take it as truth; and while God’s Word is truth not everything that is attributed to God, or His Word is actually from God’s Word. Please, understand that we MUST get into God’s Word for ourselves, so that we will KNOW what God has said for ourselves, only then can we truly judge our lives and behavior by God’s standard instead of the world’s!
“Search me,
O God,
and know
my heart:
try me,
and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way
in me,
and lead me
in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
We are to seek God’s favor not man’s, and the Psalmist knew that we must open ourselves up for God’s searchlight of truth; and while it is often (almost always) somewhat painful—it is always a work of God’s grace, love, and purification of His own, for our good and HIS glory!
“Hearken unto me,
ye that know righteousness,
the people
in whose heart is my law;
fear ye not
the reproach of men,
neither be ye afraid
of their revilings.” Isaiah 51:7
Paul often shared the import of examining our own lives according to God’s Word and standard, may we heed his advice!
“Wherefore whosoever shall eat
this bread,
and drink
this cup of the Lord,
unworthily,
shall be guilty
of the body
and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that bread,
and drink of that cup…
…. 31 For if we would judge ourselves,
we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged,
we are chastened of the Lord,
that we should not be condemned
with the world.” Portions of 1 Corinthians 11:27-32
Hebrews gives us one of the clearest messages about how God views our life choice, and how urgent it is that we don’t fail to receive truth and obey it, for God will act and discipline His own, for their good and HIS glory! I encourage us to ponder the truths contained in this message!
“And ye have forgotten
the exhortation which speaketh unto you
as unto children,
My son,
despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth,
and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons;
for what son is he
whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards,
and not sons.
9 Furthermore
we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us,
and we gave them reverence:
shall we not much rather
be in subjection unto the Father of spirits,
and live?
10 For they verily for a few days
chastened us
after their own pleasure;
but he for our profit,
that we might be partakers
of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous,
but grievous:
nevertheless afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness
unto them which are exercised
thereby.” Hebrews 12:5-11
Not a passage that we hear very often, but it is God’s Word and we need to not only heed it, but also take note of what God is doing in our lives—especially when HE is correcting us (even if we say ‘ouch’!). And just FYI, the words in this passage from Hebrews 12, ‘chasten’ and ‘chastise’, are forms of a word that means “child training”, which includes all those lessons that are necessary to help a child learn and grow to maturity! How many of us are ‘growing’? How many of us are ‘mature’ users of God’s Word, those who are “approved unto God”?
“Study to shew thyself approved
unto God,
a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing
the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
And Paul also told Timothy that God’s Word and the study of it is ever profitable—and that is true for us today as well. What are we doing about it? And FYI, ‘perfect’ in this passage simply means ‘mature’ not sinless! And there is also an implication that we need to keep in mind, if we are called to be “rightly dividing the word of truth”, it implies that we can (as many today do) “wrongly divide” God’s Word! We must let The Word say what it says, and heed and obey it!
“All scripture is given
by inspiration of God,
and is profitable
for doctrine,
for reproof,
for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God
may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished
unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Oh, that we would dive into the word of God like we do into our favorite sport, or novel, TV program, or other pleasures. Which can cause us to neglect God’s Word and HIS very presence (oh, Father forgive me for the neglect that marks so many of my days, may I draw near to Thee to hear Your voice and heed Your direction in my life?)! Oh, may we remember the declaration of the Psalmist:
“The steps of a good man
are ordered by the LORD:
and he delighteth
in his way.
24 Though he fall,
he shall not be utterly cast down:
for the LORD upholdeth him
with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24
May our cry be:
“Order my steps
in thy word:
and let not any iniquity
have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:133
May we truly pursue the face of God and His holiness in all we are (to be more like Jesus every day) and all we do—for what we ‘do’ comes out of our heart and reveals who/what we ‘are’! May our heart pursue steps that HE is ordering, for us, day by day! (See Hebrews 12:1-3)
“And Jesus said,
Are ye also yet without understanding?
17 Do not ye yet understand,
that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth
goeth into the belly,
and is cast out into the draught?
18 But those things which proceed
out of the mouth
come forth from the heart;
and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts,
murders,
adulteries,
fornications,
thefts,
false witness,
blasphemies:
20 These are the things which defile a man:
but to eat with unwashen hands
defileth not a man.” Matthew 15:16-20
And again, Jesus said:
“Either make the tree good,
and his fruit good;
or else make the tree corrupt,
and his fruit corrupt:
for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers,
how can ye,
being evil,
speak good things?
for out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man
out of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things:
and an evil man
out of the evil treasure
bringeth forth evil things.” Matthew 12:33-35
And one last thing to measure by: a question for us all, “What’s in my heart? The love of God, and Word of God, or not?” Remember what’s hidden in the heart will come out in word and deed! What will HIS searchlight find in my/your heart? God’s light is true! Am I?
“With my whole heart
have I sought thee:
O let me not wander
from thy commandments.
11 Thy word
have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin
against thee.” Psalm 119:10-11
What’s hiding in my heart? In yours?
Amen and Amen!!!
