How might a person remain "in fellowship" with the church and still shut themselves off from the truth?
This was a question from our Sunday School lesson this past week. My answer to this questions is...
"A person can come to church every time the doors are open, but, unless they are reading the Word for themselves, applying the Word to their lives daily and developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they may be shutting themselves off from the Truth."
It is the personal encounter with Jesus Christ that causes a person to truly believe the Word.
I must admit here now that I do not seek to spend this daily time with Jesus. Why? I ask myself that recently and found this article by Charles Stanley.
Overcoming Self-Sufficiency 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 In many modern cultures, self-sufficiency is prized. People cheer over stories of the man who "pulled himself up by his boot straps." A lot of folks don't like to admit the need for help from other people or from the Lord, since a can-do attitude seems far more impressive. In a word, the problem is pride.
Adversity punches holes in pride. Paul reported that he had a lot of reasons to be arrogant—a good pedigree, education, religious fervor, etc. (Phil. 3:5-6). Even after his conversion, he had plenty of opportunity get a swelled head. God had specifically called him to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. But the Lord also gave him a "thorn in the flesh"—an obstacle so great that Paul required constant spiritual assistance to work through it. This was the pin that burst the apostle's pride balloon and then kept it so full of holes that it couldn't re-inflate.
God uses adversity in much the same way in our lives. We find ourselves in a situation that is beyond our capacity to handle. So we try to pull those bootstraps, but nothing happens. That is when God offers His sufficiency, His might, and His guidance. Those who submit to Him discover renewed strength, as His power dwells within them.
Self-sufficiency is no prize; it is a trap. That's why God's message is the opposite of the one that the world trumpets so loudly. Those who desire to conquer adversity must sacrifice self-reliance to depend upon Him. When we are weak, His Spirit makes us strong.
Pride? Do I know better/more than GOD? Why then do I so often live as though I do! My answer is most often, laziness. Yes, I am lazy! It is so easy to come to church and listen to Bro. Rocky read and explain the Word to me. Or to participate in a Bible study and let the author explain the Word to me. Or to come to Sunday School and let the teacher explain the Word to me. But these are all second-hand accounts of the Word. God wants to speak DIRECTLY to me (& you)! Some things he only wants me to hear, personal conversations are just that- PERSONAL!
Well, God has gotten my attention. I asked Him now for forgiveness for being prideful and thinking that I know better than Him. I do not! It's times now to Stop and read the Word and then to sit still and listen to what GOD would say to me today. Here I am LORD, ready to listen and obey.
Obey?........that's for another day!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Today, The First Day of the Rest of our Lives
Good morning! Glad you decided to stop by. I have been waiting for someone to talk to. Do you ever have a great day and just want to share it with someone but it seems that no one is available at that exact time? I do, therefore, this BLOG. I can share with you what's on my mind and you can visit with me whenever it's most convenient for you. Let's give it a try. Anybody with me?
Let me tell you that GOD is SO GOOD! Did I hear an AMEN there? Hope so, because HE IS SO GOOD! I feel that I have so many things to share with you, my Family, that God has shared with me. I want to attempt to share some of these things here and hope that you will add your experiences/thoughts here too! In these "last days" we need all the instruction/encouragement that we can get. Another AMEN here would be appropriate!
Hebrews 3:17-18 says, "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first."
Do you remember the day that you first began to "share in Christ?" The day that you realized this life is REAL! That there really is GOD and one day you will meet Him and bow down before Him and give an account of everything you have said and done in this life. Woe is me! This would be a terrifying thought, if not for the Mercy and Grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST! Praise GOD, I do remember that on the evening of May 29, 1990; as I was sitting in my living room flipping through the TV channels, GOD called me. He spoke to me through a few simple words from Rev. Billy Graham. I remember that Rev. Graham was holding up a Bible and explaining that believing GOD requires faith. He stated that as long as he had been reading and preaching the things of the Bible, he still did not understand all of it. He said that he probably never would understand all of it and that some of believing just requires Faith!
Just 13 days earlier, on May 16th, I had lost my oldest son, Michael in death and I could not "understand" it. Why did this happen? Why Michael? Why not me? What if I could go back and change the past, could I have made a difference? I wanted to understand, Why?
But Rev Graham, said that we probably will never understand everything in the Bible but we still must Believe in GOD and ask JESUS to forgive us of our sins and come into our lives and SAVE us! Well, I did just that that night!
I still don't have the answers of why I lost my Michael, but JESUS has filled the great hole that was left in my heart and HE continues to fill it, each and every day that I seek Him and allow Him to do just that.
GOD IS SO GOOD!
Let me tell you that GOD is SO GOOD! Did I hear an AMEN there? Hope so, because HE IS SO GOOD! I feel that I have so many things to share with you, my Family, that God has shared with me. I want to attempt to share some of these things here and hope that you will add your experiences/thoughts here too! In these "last days" we need all the instruction/encouragement that we can get. Another AMEN here would be appropriate!
Hebrews 3:17-18 says, "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first."
Do you remember the day that you first began to "share in Christ?" The day that you realized this life is REAL! That there really is GOD and one day you will meet Him and bow down before Him and give an account of everything you have said and done in this life. Woe is me! This would be a terrifying thought, if not for the Mercy and Grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST! Praise GOD, I do remember that on the evening of May 29, 1990; as I was sitting in my living room flipping through the TV channels, GOD called me. He spoke to me through a few simple words from Rev. Billy Graham. I remember that Rev. Graham was holding up a Bible and explaining that believing GOD requires faith. He stated that as long as he had been reading and preaching the things of the Bible, he still did not understand all of it. He said that he probably never would understand all of it and that some of believing just requires Faith!
Just 13 days earlier, on May 16th, I had lost my oldest son, Michael in death and I could not "understand" it. Why did this happen? Why Michael? Why not me? What if I could go back and change the past, could I have made a difference? I wanted to understand, Why?
But Rev Graham, said that we probably will never understand everything in the Bible but we still must Believe in GOD and ask JESUS to forgive us of our sins and come into our lives and SAVE us! Well, I did just that that night!
I still don't have the answers of why I lost my Michael, but JESUS has filled the great hole that was left in my heart and HE continues to fill it, each and every day that I seek Him and allow Him to do just that.
GOD IS SO GOOD!
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