WOODA, COODA,SHOODA!
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
When we read scripture we automatically can see the perspective from which the author writes. We see someone who is determined to believe that God is who He has said He is, and we see someone who has been convinced through some kind of personal experience with God that the Kingdom of Heaven is more realistic than this world we live in.
I think all of us have had a moment when we said " How did they get that kind of faith?"
There is one thing for certain...it was not just handed to them; they had to commit to finding it within themselves some how. When I deal with the inside of a believer I often have to go back to the statement that Paul made about himself..." the things that I would do are the things that I don't do, and the very things that I would not do are the things that I do". It is this statement that makes Paul much more human to me because it tells me that he struggled just as we all do. It also tells me that Paul had to test God in what God had promised Paul for him to be able to believe so strongly that he could ever commit his life to Him. This deals in the first part 1. WOODA, and it begs to ask the question of any of us who are saying that we believe; how far are we willing to go to find out if God is who He says He is? I dare say that most people today simply take the word of someone who says they know about something instead of doing any real research on their own. The old saying I grew up with is "They can't advertise it if it isn't true" has now turned into " IT WOULDN'T BE ON THE INTERNET IF IT WASN'T TRUE"; and we all really know in the back of our mind that we cannot trust those statements.
In almost every part of life in order for us to keep from being taken advantage of we have found that we need to know a little bit about the problem we have and what it will take to fix it...even though we may not do the work ourselves. We have all tasted what it is like to put too much trust in the hands of people in matters that affect our lives. It is too easy for corruption to rear it's ugly head, and that is why for most of us some kind of knowledge becomes a form of power. Since the truth never changes God has offered us a way to test His word to us so that we might find out the truth for ourselves. Our being able to test God's truth has very little to do with reading the bible or getting very deep within the scriptures, and it does not start with our really changing our lives. Our testing of God's word has to do with building our relationship with God from where we are right now. The question is are you willing to find out for yourself what God is all about, and when He proves Himself true to His word are you willing to go further?
2. COODA, the old idea that we often throw out of " OH I can't...I never have had a chance" is not really an option. We all have the chance to seek after God today because of what Jesus has done on the cross. In fact that is the biggest and most misunderstood part of the plan of salvation. The fact that Jesus didn't take away the sin of the world, He simply took away the power of sin to separate us from God. He did that by forgiving Adams first sin, and opening the door for our forgiveness as well; but only if we come to Him and maintain a loving relationship with Him.
This week we are concentrating on the ideas of "Hidden treasures" and so it becomes very appropriate for us to look at what we can do to find those hidden things within us that will change our lives so completely that we can say along with Paul " I am persuaded that He is able". It isn't a matter of waiting for an opportunity from God to do these things, but it comes down to how much we want to know for sure that God is real, and how much are we willing to admit that the next step is ours to take? Let's look at the chances that you may have this week to find out more about the truth or the fiction of God in your life.
What about those things that you already need help with solving...but you can't seem to get a break...have you tried prayer...I am not talking about the grocery list prayer, but actually talking to God from your heart? I wonder what it would be like to read a little out of the bible and see if God wants to say something to you personally from it? How about the chance today right now in fact to simply give God the time to think about Him...talk with Him and maybe even ask for forgiveness and clean your slate before you do business today? You have the time right now...if you make it.
3. SHOODA, if I have made any progress at all in the first two points of this my last point in this should not be hard to see. We take the time to insure ourselves in all kinds of ways from having bad things happen in life. Even if we take the same kind of precautions that we would in any other part of this life we should know that we need to be prepared.
The spiritual parts of us remains the most neglected of all things within this life, and it is the single most important part of life period! I have such a hard time with people thinking that they can wait until the last minute to get things right with God...it isn't just a matter of believing in Him...it is a matter of having a relationship with Him. If you are driving down the road you don't wait to sign an insurance policy just before you crash into a tree!
My dear ones our life does go on after this. That truth exists no matter if you want to admit it or not. How you spend you eternity is based upon what you do in this life. Should you look into what this is really all about...OH I think so. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
When we read scripture we automatically can see the perspective from which the author writes. We see someone who is determined to believe that God is who He has said He is, and we see someone who has been convinced through some kind of personal experience with God that the Kingdom of Heaven is more realistic than this world we live in.
I think all of us have had a moment when we said " How did they get that kind of faith?"
There is one thing for certain...it was not just handed to them; they had to commit to finding it within themselves some how. When I deal with the inside of a believer I often have to go back to the statement that Paul made about himself..." the things that I would do are the things that I don't do, and the very things that I would not do are the things that I do". It is this statement that makes Paul much more human to me because it tells me that he struggled just as we all do. It also tells me that Paul had to test God in what God had promised Paul for him to be able to believe so strongly that he could ever commit his life to Him. This deals in the first part 1. WOODA, and it begs to ask the question of any of us who are saying that we believe; how far are we willing to go to find out if God is who He says He is? I dare say that most people today simply take the word of someone who says they know about something instead of doing any real research on their own. The old saying I grew up with is "They can't advertise it if it isn't true" has now turned into " IT WOULDN'T BE ON THE INTERNET IF IT WASN'T TRUE"; and we all really know in the back of our mind that we cannot trust those statements.
In almost every part of life in order for us to keep from being taken advantage of we have found that we need to know a little bit about the problem we have and what it will take to fix it...even though we may not do the work ourselves. We have all tasted what it is like to put too much trust in the hands of people in matters that affect our lives. It is too easy for corruption to rear it's ugly head, and that is why for most of us some kind of knowledge becomes a form of power. Since the truth never changes God has offered us a way to test His word to us so that we might find out the truth for ourselves. Our being able to test God's truth has very little to do with reading the bible or getting very deep within the scriptures, and it does not start with our really changing our lives. Our testing of God's word has to do with building our relationship with God from where we are right now. The question is are you willing to find out for yourself what God is all about, and when He proves Himself true to His word are you willing to go further?
2. COODA, the old idea that we often throw out of " OH I can't...I never have had a chance" is not really an option. We all have the chance to seek after God today because of what Jesus has done on the cross. In fact that is the biggest and most misunderstood part of the plan of salvation. The fact that Jesus didn't take away the sin of the world, He simply took away the power of sin to separate us from God. He did that by forgiving Adams first sin, and opening the door for our forgiveness as well; but only if we come to Him and maintain a loving relationship with Him.
This week we are concentrating on the ideas of "Hidden treasures" and so it becomes very appropriate for us to look at what we can do to find those hidden things within us that will change our lives so completely that we can say along with Paul " I am persuaded that He is able". It isn't a matter of waiting for an opportunity from God to do these things, but it comes down to how much we want to know for sure that God is real, and how much are we willing to admit that the next step is ours to take? Let's look at the chances that you may have this week to find out more about the truth or the fiction of God in your life.
What about those things that you already need help with solving...but you can't seem to get a break...have you tried prayer...I am not talking about the grocery list prayer, but actually talking to God from your heart? I wonder what it would be like to read a little out of the bible and see if God wants to say something to you personally from it? How about the chance today right now in fact to simply give God the time to think about Him...talk with Him and maybe even ask for forgiveness and clean your slate before you do business today? You have the time right now...if you make it.
3. SHOODA, if I have made any progress at all in the first two points of this my last point in this should not be hard to see. We take the time to insure ourselves in all kinds of ways from having bad things happen in life. Even if we take the same kind of precautions that we would in any other part of this life we should know that we need to be prepared.
The spiritual parts of us remains the most neglected of all things within this life, and it is the single most important part of life period! I have such a hard time with people thinking that they can wait until the last minute to get things right with God...it isn't just a matter of believing in Him...it is a matter of having a relationship with Him. If you are driving down the road you don't wait to sign an insurance policy just before you crash into a tree!
My dear ones our life does go on after this. That truth exists no matter if you want to admit it or not. How you spend you eternity is based upon what you do in this life. Should you look into what this is really all about...OH I think so. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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