"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 ... What an amazing passage that levels the playing field for "God Prevails!"
My head and heart are spinning with a spiritual conundrum ... After spending a little time this morning bathing in Romans for the sake of my spirit, I walked out of the water of His word realizing some basic truths, and being challenged by a meditation of intimacy that I had never gazed at before. Yes, it was driven by my broken heart for the state of many seekers who are being swayed away from the safety of God's Word and His Desire (read Genesis 32 - and just study the events that led to Jacob's name change - honestly, I am still captivated).
"Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23
As Kids of the King...Here are the truth's that we must keep as walls for our souls:
- We are all under the full weight of Sin and its consequences.
- With or without the written law ... God has written the Law on the hearts of men so no one is without excuse.
- The Law is the school master empowered by the Spirit that teaches us:
- of God's Holiness and our sin because ... we don't believe,
- of God's righteousness because ... Jesus is with the Father,
- of our need for a Savior to deliver us from judgment and the eternal consequences of sin ... because the Prince of this world is already judged.
Jesus was delivered our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25)
WE MUST BELIEVE - Repentance is when our opinions align with His.
Today we live in a world where there is dualistic and pluralistic beliefs and lifestyles that are wrestled with and touted as truth by some because ... "We don't want to offend anyone!" . Take Note: A believer, with a single heart and a single mind... holding evident that the Bible, the Word of God, is the final authority and absolute truth... This believer is thought to be naïve, out of step, and not enlightened by more recent enlightened revelations. Wow ... How arrogance for self proclamation can replace love for the words of our God!
I don't know how often that I have heard this phrase from church leaders (but it is almost becoming viral) "I used to believe like you ... But after deeper study, I now believe differently." (And it is spouted in my direction in a very condescending manner.)
What I am finding as I push the envelope of the conversation, these "shape shifters" are vanquishing passages of scripture that rub their "present generation" perspective the wrong way. They share this teaching with their followers in the context of "grace" ... Teaching that an individual has a God given Liberty to pick and choose passages from the "good book"(not "God's Word") what to believe, and even deem passages as "God said" or "God didn't" as the spirit leads them(What spirit?).
They argue that Jesus is the Word of God, not the Bible, so the words of the book need to be rightly divided to know His truth...Wake up people of God! This is nothing more than a self styled, self serving idolatry ... Where we create a God in the image of our likes and dislikes while separating our selves from the truths of His Word.
Did it ever dawn on us that the Father may deliver change mandates that may discomfort until we align our hearts with His? ... Especially since "there is none that understand nor seek after God." Could there be things that God knows... that we do not, that He is trying to teach us? ... Until we learn, it might not fit our current mode of living... We might be a little uncomfortable until we fit!
If we are resisting harmonizing with "things above" and not becoming more and more like Jesus, and less and less like the world, and not putting behind us ... our selfish ambitions and sacrificial-less living ... something has happened to disconnect us from our "first love"... Jesus.
* There are God-following leaders who constantly challenge the body of Christ to look up, rise up, live up - read, study, meditate, believe and live what God says.
BUT ... Many modern pulpits ring out with passionate but powerless messages of faux understanding, because the voice of purported leadership attempts to negate the validity of scripture by picking it apart and assigning the "offensive" portions to an archaic limbo of sorts. And there is confusion in the congregation, confusion in the community, and an animosity toward the things of God in general... BUT God will prevail!
- "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope." Isaiah 5:18
- "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." Isaiah 5:20
- "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." Isaiah 5:21
- "Woe unto you, lawyers (interpreters of the Law)! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." Luke 11:52
"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with their whole heart." Psalm 119: 1,2
Hear His Word.
Study His Word.
Trust in His Word.
Rest in His Word.
Thrive in His Word!
Be blessed by His Word.
HLFA,
Jeff
Don't give your time to those who negate the trustworthiness and truthfulness of the Word of God ... His Time with us on this side of eternity is of the essence. Redeem the time. God Prevails!