3 things God has taught me lately

The importance of adhering to scripture

First thing I have learned the last few weeks and I keep seeing over and over again is the supreme importance of adhering to scripture.

We say we want to know God, yet we are tempted to try to draw near to him in our thoughts of who He is and what He is like, rather than how HE has revealed Himself to us in the scriptures. How dangerous it is for us once we begin to assume and presume things about God apart from the scriptures! We will listen to and believe anything about God that people say as long as it pleases us. What about the Truth of scripture? Will we believe what God has revealed about Himself and hold it ABOVE mans opinions of God? To know God, you must read the Bible. To trust experience or the wisdom of this age or even your own heart is dangerous because all are imperfect and will fail you.


The body of Christ
Next, something I have known but it have never understood properly. The relationship between Christ and His church. Two passages come to mind.

First:

Matt 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matt 25:35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me {something} to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me {something} to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
Matt 25:36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
Matt 25:37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You {something} to drink?
Matt 25:38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
Matt 25:39 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
Matt 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, {even} the least {of them,} you did it to Me.'

The second passage is in regard to Saul's persecution of the new Christian church. He was out to kill and imprison believers.

Acts 9:3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;
Acts 9:4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
Acts 9:5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He {said,} "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
The work of God in mans life

Saul was not persecuting Jesus, he was persecuting Christians. But as we see from the Matthew passage, whatever we do to Christians, we do to Christ. I knew it, but it had never hit my heart with the impact it did today. That part is a huge understanding that has changed the way I will understand and apply it forever.

God's work in our lives

Finally I continue to learn the amazing work of a God so huge I can not comprehend the depth of how He works in our lives.

From the beginning of time God created and knew everything. Everything that has happened in all of our lives is exactly according to His plan. I used to say God "allows" this and that to happen to us. That is not entirely accurate. He not only "allows" but He "causes" all things to happen (Romans 8). Every event is layed out by Him working according to His perfect plan for His ultimate glory. The reason people don't like to talk about this is because there are some terrible things that happen in this world that we would have to spend a long time talking about. (I still have a lot to learn about it too).

My point is this... I put a great burden on myself to do the right thing. I understand though that as sinners, we have no power to do what is right. Scripture teaches that there is none who seeks for God and that nothing good dwells in me (Romans 3 and 7). We trust in ourselves when we should be trusting in God. He knew me before I was born. He caused me to be born and grow up not knowing my biological father. He caused me to grow up where I did with the parents I had in the school I went to and every experience good and bad in my life all worked together to lead up to the point of my conversion. I have done nothing, He has done it all. SO will I not fully trust in His plan that will ultimately bring me to glory? Every wrong I have ever done and every wrong that has ever been done toward me is to His ultimate glory.

Now I see the two extremes and I honestly think I have bumped the edges of both in my young faith. On one hand in the beginning with pure faith I bumped up against anti-nomianism that says "Let go and let God" On the other hand I have bumped up against perfectionism that pushed me to work hard to perfect myself. Truth is somewhere in the middle. I must let go and let God because it is the Holy Spirit that changes me and does the work. On the other hand I am accountable for my actions and must resist temptation and daily put one foot in front of the other and walk in the Way. How it all works together, I don't know. I just know the Bible teaches it. So I have a lot less stress and pressure knowing He is doing the work and He is faithful and I must pray more that He will change my rebellious heart that loves me more than I love Him. Oops, did I say that out loud? Why else do we seek our own way?

Love you all! May we seek Him and know Him more in the Bible.
-Your fellow rebellious one