SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WORSHIP AND OBEDIENCE
Greetings in the name of Jesus :
There isn't any way to approach this subject without establishing what our beliefs are in the truth that is only found in God's word. This subject came up in my heart from a contact that I made with a young Jehovah's Witness girl who had started coming to our door with the same old general watchtower articles we have all seen from time to time. The introduction questions asked of " Do you believe in God's word?" and other very vague questions that could be answered with very noncommitted verses designed more to support an argument than to uncover a truth continued on for several weeks one summer until the answers that I was giving her seemed to start to cause her to ask deeper questions.
I find that in many cases I can get questions that share the minds and hearts of many of those in this world by speaking with people that that who at least have the commitment to witness their faith to others by going from door to door. The question that this young girl brought to me was " IS THE BIBLE STILL RELEVANT TODAY?" My first answer, of course, was YES! Then I began to think in terms of how this world sees things and I had to begin to dig a little. With both this world and in the teachings that were being discussed this subject was being held to a physical standard of the goodness of men which included the values that people are holding today for what is good and upright. What I find has been bothering me for a few days now because the questions being asked by several church groups deal with the practical application of the Bible in the lives of men today. Instead of relevance, we should be asking if the truth has any practical application to men and women today because that is what they are really trying to deal with.
The idea of loving one another and being peacemakers is, of course, a part of God's message, but even more so is to understand what the truth is in the context of the message that God has given us. In that message is to realize that the more we try to bring out these qualities in our lives the more this world will hate us for being like God. Instead of quoting ideals we need to be able to hold onto something with substance. We cannot use scripture effectively without it connecting to the truth of who God is and to who Jesus Christ is. Ephesians 6:13 shows us that we need to have something that is reliable at the end of all of our struggles in order find and maintain the truth in our lives. Making up our mind about the truth that we find in scripture concerning God's message given to us through Jesus Christ is key to finding that steadfastness. Philippians 1:27-30 calls the Word of God to be this truth to be steadfast under any kind of circumstances we may be in..
Relevance depends upon the whims, likes and social taste of society; a kind of "whichever way the wind blows mentality", but the truth never changes and is not popular among men because it cannot be manipulated by what people in general want. When we use the term truth with scripture be careful to understand that eventually the truth will come out and be uncovered. As hard as some try to hide that truth by ignoring the foundations of the message that God sent us through Jesus Christ the truth will eventually be uncovered exposing those who have been deceitful with it. You see scripture includes a great number of truths from God. There are both blessings and curses Joshua 8:34, and scripture warns us to let God do the judging Job 32:13. This means that real truth has both positive and negative results Hosea 14:9 and that truth can either build up or it can tear down giving both life and destruction Luke 20:17-18. The bottom line in all of this is that we need to be careful when dealing with what truth is, and its relevance to our world today. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
There isn't any way to approach this subject without establishing what our beliefs are in the truth that is only found in God's word. This subject came up in my heart from a contact that I made with a young Jehovah's Witness girl who had started coming to our door with the same old general watchtower articles we have all seen from time to time. The introduction questions asked of " Do you believe in God's word?" and other very vague questions that could be answered with very noncommitted verses designed more to support an argument than to uncover a truth continued on for several weeks one summer until the answers that I was giving her seemed to start to cause her to ask deeper questions.
I find that in many cases I can get questions that share the minds and hearts of many of those in this world by speaking with people that that who at least have the commitment to witness their faith to others by going from door to door. The question that this young girl brought to me was " IS THE BIBLE STILL RELEVANT TODAY?" My first answer, of course, was YES! Then I began to think in terms of how this world sees things and I had to begin to dig a little. With both this world and in the teachings that were being discussed this subject was being held to a physical standard of the goodness of men which included the values that people are holding today for what is good and upright. What I find has been bothering me for a few days now because the questions being asked by several church groups deal with the practical application of the Bible in the lives of men today. Instead of relevance, we should be asking if the truth has any practical application to men and women today because that is what they are really trying to deal with.
The idea of loving one another and being peacemakers is, of course, a part of God's message, but even more so is to understand what the truth is in the context of the message that God has given us. In that message is to realize that the more we try to bring out these qualities in our lives the more this world will hate us for being like God. Instead of quoting ideals we need to be able to hold onto something with substance. We cannot use scripture effectively without it connecting to the truth of who God is and to who Jesus Christ is. Ephesians 6:13 shows us that we need to have something that is reliable at the end of all of our struggles in order find and maintain the truth in our lives. Making up our mind about the truth that we find in scripture concerning God's message given to us through Jesus Christ is key to finding that steadfastness. Philippians 1:27-30 calls the Word of God to be this truth to be steadfast under any kind of circumstances we may be in..
Relevance depends upon the whims, likes and social taste of society; a kind of "whichever way the wind blows mentality", but the truth never changes and is not popular among men because it cannot be manipulated by what people in general want. When we use the term truth with scripture be careful to understand that eventually the truth will come out and be uncovered. As hard as some try to hide that truth by ignoring the foundations of the message that God sent us through Jesus Christ the truth will eventually be uncovered exposing those who have been deceitful with it. You see scripture includes a great number of truths from God. There are both blessings and curses Joshua 8:34, and scripture warns us to let God do the judging Job 32:13. This means that real truth has both positive and negative results Hosea 14:9 and that truth can either build up or it can tear down giving both life and destruction Luke 20:17-18. The bottom line in all of this is that we need to be careful when dealing with what truth is, and its relevance to our world today. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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