I accepted Christ when I was 11 years old and basically wandered in a wilderness of no Biblical instruction. Everything I learned "about" the Bible was second-hand information. So it was filtered through whoever was teaching me their experience and understanding, and that was probably filtered through someone else's filter of understanding. I say "filter" because that is what it is. Filter (def) - pass through a device to remove unwanted material: What should have happened did not happen. Someone should have shown me how to study the Bible for myself and then the Holy Spirit would have shown me as an individual what to get from the scripture I was reading. Don't get me wrong. I totally believe in a more mature believer mentoring someone new in the faith and teaching them God's word, or should I really say "How to study God's word."
The more of us we put into God's teaching the less powerful God's Word is and that is the problem many believers face today. Second and third hand information that is watered down and ineffective. Today's blog may seem negative, but in reality, I want it to be a wake-up call to get "real" with God's Word and challenge all who are reading to "bear down" and get into God's Word and let Him unveil the mysteries of life that are only found when we crack open the Bible and get inside.
A.W. Tozer said, "If it is not in The Word, then I am not going to believe it!" To which, I say Amen and Amen!! Oh, I study using commentaries that men write, but only to challenge and deepen my thinking about a particular verse of thought. When I realized later in life that I had the one who would explain it all for me and He would do that through the Word of God my life was changed. John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. ALL TRUTH! God's Word gives us ALL TRUTH. And the Holy Spirit leads us to God's Word, so open it up and ask God and He will show you that truth. Anything less is messed up!!
To the word Mystic, I have to speak to this because in religious circles a mystic is one who believes in a "spirit world" and yes, that is what I believe based on the Word of God. In 1 John 4:1, we read Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. The Spirit world is where God is and God's perfect word shows us that world in so many forms. In prayer we pray to a God we cannot see, and yet we believe He moves and hears our prayers. Also in 1 John 5, the writer says this 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.15 And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for. That scripture is really true or really false. We don't filter it down to what we want so we can put human reasoning to it to make it more palatable. God hears our prayers and answers our prayers and gives us what we pray for. Yes? Hmm. That doesn't make sense for a person who fails every day in living the life of a believer does it? No. But God's great forgiveness and grace doesn't end at our pool of reasoning. No, His grace is enough to handle all circumstances, all sins. 2 Corinthians 12:9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. That just doesn't make sense to a human, worldly kind of person's reasoning does it? And it shouldn't when a person is just seeing life through the filter of human reasoning according to what I am capable of believing.
If we only think in the "natural" we will forever miss the Spiritual and thus never grow in our faith to extent that God has intended. Here is where everything gets a little shaky for those who don't explore the Word of God in the wonder of all it holds. The natural man does not see things as God shows them in His Word but filters them to be acceptable to his way of thinking. Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 2:10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his, Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. We are spiritual people because of receiving the Holy Spirit of God and we should pursue God's Word to explain how to live and believe in light of all the Spirit teaches us.
People who try to figure out God through worldly reasoning will never understand all that God is trying to show them if they only trust in their reasoning or the flawed reasoning of someone else, We as believers get to go to the source and sometimes the source really takes a lot of faith to trust. But we can trust that source because He is God. Paul saw in the church at Corinth just how much those people were trying to live a double life that was some mystic and some messed up and here is what he concluded in 1 Corinthians 2:13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.
The calling of God is given by the Holy Spirit and we are all called when we receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. That calling will stretch us at times but trust God's Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit and your calling or purpose in life will become clear and a life of abundance will follow. Not my words. God's! Let the Calling God has on your life cause you to soar. The words God gave the prophet Isaiah still apply today where He says in Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
So....Trust Him and His Word. What can it hurt? It can only help you and it will lead you into a life of following the Spirit of God.
The Pilgrimage Continues.
David Warren
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