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A Mantra to get into His Will!
By Kathleen Derbyshire
Have you ever noticed that when things are going well our communication with God is so much better but when things are not so well it is hard to pray? I find my mind wondering back to my problem over again. I think about things that will help solve my problem rather than asking the Holy Spirit to give me the way to solve my problem. As a matter of fact I forget to ask Him in the good times too. Revelation is what I need more than anything else so going it on my own looks less and less useful. We know deep down that God’s ways are the best ways so we should just ask God!
Jeremiah 33:3 should be our mantra if revelation is what we want to solve our problems. I love this verse because it tells me how to get revelation. I am not looking for new information I am looking for information I do not know. I am looking for information regarding the salvation of my problems. I am looking for information regarding the building up of my character. I am looking for information to manage with the world and those who live in it. I’m sure that you are looking for the same thing. We need to know how not to make mistakes or how to recover from the ones we already made. This can only be done if we get revelation from the Father. Let’s pick this verse apart and add others to make sure we fully understand what revelation is and how we can utilize it to do what Jesus really wants us to do. In other words we need revelation to remain in the will of God.
Our mantra Jeremiah 33:3 says, Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Let us start with the simple but powerful words from our Lord ‘call to Me.’ He says this because He is the only One who can guide us in a direction that will result in solutions for our troubles. I wish that this was my first line of defense but it is not right now. I call on the Lord when I cannot figure it out on my own. My own strength is my immediate resource for issue resolution. If God has gifted you will administration and exhortation as He has with me you are nodding your head right now but if you have another gifting like mercy, compassion or helps you might go to God first and you are finger wagging me. We are all gifted differently and those giftings lead us in specific directions resulting in not really needing God to be productive BUT that is not what He wants from us. He wants us to call on Him because He is the one who knows what our future holds, what our past was and what our present status is. Psalm 34:17 says emphatically, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all of their troubles [emphasis mine]. All we need to do is cry out or call to Him to begin the process of Him hearing us and answering us.
Without the hearing He cannot answer us! Our biggest problem may not be the crying out part but the listening part. Three verses come to mind in this stage of our mantra, Psalm 91:1 and Psalm 42:7-8. The former tells us that we need to dwell in His secret place to learn how to hear Him. His secret place is a hard place to find and be inside of. We have to be persistent in looking and resolute in staying, which means we need to be determined to hear Him. My mind is a terrible place sometimes but that is where the secret place is. We can find a place on this earth that makes us happy and peaceful but the minute we leave it our peace and happiness disappear like a puff of smoke. In this secret place with the Father our hope, peace and joy remain and we carry it with us where ever we go because it is in us not in the world. This is also where that latter verse picks up. In the secret place Deep [God] calls unto deep [us] with the noise of His waterfalls. And all of His waves and billows go over us. If we are indeed in the secret place we will hear everything He has to say. We are being called into the deep with the Father and His deep will go over us resulting in us seeing the great and mighty things He needs to show us.
The vision of God for us is what we need to solve our problems. We want to see what He is doing in the World so that we can go in that direction. We need to see, He is doing His works on this earth, and whether we participate or not, His works will get done (Isaiah 55:10-11). All of our problems stem from being out of the will of God so when we are in the will of God we are participating in His works therefore outside of the problems we have created. When He shows us great and mighty things that we did not know it is His workings on the Earth. If we want to see His workings in Heaven look around because whatever is worked out in heaven is now on the Earth (Matthew 6:10). The great and mighty things are happening but we just don’t see them. If we want to see them then we must dwell in the secret place until we believe and trust in Him. Once this process is done He will give us vision of what He is doing, the things which we do not know.
Our mantra from now on should be Jeremiah 33:3 (HCSB). Our first defence with problem solving is to cry out to God and He will hear us and answer us! He will open our eyes to see what He is doing on the Earth today so we can go that way as well. All of this takes time as well as Spiritually enhanced problem-solving skills that we can only be given to us from the Father. He gives us revelation to go in His direction, which in itself is a problem solving skill that we must nurture in our secret place with Him. As we are called in to the deep His Words wash over us with the shadow of the Almighty. God has, over the years, Revealed in Me that getting revelation is a process every Christian needs to learn! I have enhanced my problem solving skills in the secret place and so can you! If you want to move into the will of God get into that secret place with God and see how He moves!
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Our Weapons for War!
We are going to 1 Samuel 17 today to the story of David and Goliath. We think much about this story and the content of it because David is the hero. We love David because he is the underdog in this story but there is so much more to it for us to learn then just that. We are all underdogs compared to God. David displays that we are nothing in our own power but when God sends us to do a job He equips us to do it the way He wants us, in particular, to do it. He gives us our own weapons to fight His battle.
Saul is King of Israel at this time but God has already left him and anointed David to be His King. David knows he is anointed to be King but has become a servant to the man he would replace. God has positioned David into the kingdom but has not moved him into his anointed position. David had gone home to take care of his fathers flock when Goliath becomes a phenomenon to Israel. He comes out 40 days straight and taunts God’s chosen people who respond by allowing fear to overtake them.
Young David is told to bring goods to his brothers and the supply master by his father to the battlefield. Goliath, the challenger, was almost 10 feet tall and the hero of the Philistines but he is no match for God’s man. He was not a hero to David either because he was defying God. Saul, who should have offered himself up to protect his people only offered up his gear and weapons to the man who would kill this hero of Philistia.
God sent David into his battle with his weapons and He sends us into our battle with our weapons. For ten years I heard that our battle should be on our knees but for just as long I had no understanding of what exactly that means. My number one weapon was not prayer it was problem solving. Yours might very well be something else like love, compassion, nail banging or house building. We take what we have as a weapon and use it to solve problems but mostly in the physical world. Our enemy is in the Spiritual world. Once we become Christians we are given a great vision of the Spiritual world and it doesn’t just include God and the angels but Satan and his demons too.
Saul tried to supply David with his weapons to fight but David said he had not tested them but he knew what he had tested and they were tried and true. God gave him the weapons he was to fight this giant with and he gave Saul his. Saul chose not to use his. God gives us the weapons we are to fight with too and they are perfectly suited for us to fight the giant we are fighting at this moment. We are not to use untested weapons of war we are to recognize and use our own weapons because they are what God has given us to fight with. Up until this year I did not fight my battle with prayer nor did I prevent a fight with prayer but I did fight my battles with the weapons God gave me. He has given me a fantastic memory for Scripture! Those were my weapons but now He is giving me a new weapon. This weapon is mine alone and I intend to practice with it and get so good at it that I will be able to knock down any giant.
What is the weapon that Jesus has given you to fight with right now? Do you use it or do you attempt to use someone else’s? Spend the next day or two answering these questions then own the weapon He has given you right now and perfect it’s use just as David perfected the use of his sling. For the battle you fight is the Lord’s and your weapon is from Him so He can deliver your enemy into your hands.
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Focus on Doing My Best
In my quest to become useful in the Kingdom of God I have done a ton of things, some failed, some successful for a time and some never got off the ground. Some I told God I would do and some He told me to do. I am somewhere in between right now. I am working on projects that have been going for a couple of years but they need more of God in them or they need to end. I have to tell you I am a little scared to do anything right now because I am gun shy. I don’t want to give up what I am doing now but I don’t want to start anything new either because I am scared.
I am not allowing fear to cripple me but I am allowing it to stop me from making mistakes – if that makes any sense to you. I think my fear at this moment moves me into the sound mind realm. In my not so sound mind I made decisions that cost me a lot of money and a lot of time only to see them fail. In my not so sound mind I made decisions that cost me emotionally and physically. Each of these has taken its toll on me and made me scared today. As a result my decision-making is much more thought provoking and much more focused. My first thought when I have to make a decision is – what is this going to cost me? I am not just talking about any decision I am talking about all decisions.
My goal daily now is to talk to Jesus about everything. I am trying to focus on doing my best at everything I do. Today was my first day at it and I have failed miserably already. As I was driving home from my day job the Spirit told me to pray before changing tasks from now on so on my way into the house I prayed that I would be a better wife, a better cleaner, better at everything that I do in this house. Then I went to my kitchen and did what I do and forgot to pray but then I came down to write this and prayed. For someone who used to pray once a month (if that) God is really doing a work in me daily to keep me in communion with Him.
Pray for me to continue this goal of doing the best I can with everything I do and to be in constant communion with Jesus. If you want to join me in this task let me know you are coming along by commenting and we will banter back and forth through out this quest. Comment regarding what you are learning and how you are learning it. We are going deeper with Jesus so not all He reveals to you is for my ears but some can be. Ask Jesus how you can teach me and I will ask Him how I can teach you. Enjoy these next couple of days communing with Jesus and expect to be transformed through all He reveals to you!
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Cry out to Him and See!
There is nothing like a death in the family to make us evaluate (or me anyway) the things we are doing. We watch as people walk through the room and how they react. We react with curiosity about how they have impacted the lives of those they knew. We evaluate how they have impacted our life. The only real way we can know what they have done for others is to listen to stories and listen intently to how people felt about that person. This is a skill that we must learn to utilize as we get older because we learn much about ourselves and about others. We can know someone all of our life and still not know the impact that person has had on others outside of our own relationship with them.
This begs me to ask of myself, “How have I had an impact on those in my life?” Have I created an atmosphere of love or contention? Have I taught my loved ones that I am determined or lazy? BUT the biggest question is, “Have I shown (not told) them that I love Jesus?” Will that be the first thing people say or will they have to find out from the pastor during my service. I have no other desire for you to know anything other than my love for Jesus and how I work that out in my life. What I want you to see is I love Jesus, I love my family, I love my friends and anyone whom I can touch through my teaching of Jesus Christ and my writings about how we can learn from Him.I want you to see my passion for the Word when I teach you what Jesus has been teaching me. I want you to see my determined devotion to Him while I help you learn what I have learned. I want you to see my steadfastness in doing what Jesus has asked me to do. In this you will find out that I have dedicated my life to knowing Jesus by studying His word so I can be of use to the women in the area in which Jesus has placed me. I cry out to God daily for them and I ask Him to position me to be of the most use to them.
How can we go forward when we feel like we are not doing enough? Jeremiah 33:3 says “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’” Cry out to Jesus and ask Him daily what He has planned for you. He will reveal in you just as He will reveal in me just exactly what He wants us to learn and how He wants us to use that knowledge. Then we must do it!
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My Soul Longs for Him!
I have been juggling three very good books over the last week and wonder how much more does God need to teach me. The most phenomenal thing is that they all are related to each other at this very moment. How amazing is that? Not at all because we are dealing with our God here! I am reading The One Year Chronological Bible, Water in the Dessert and The Spiritual Man. Each book has its own theme yet each book at this moment is speaking to me loud and clear.The One Year Chronological Bible is designed to allow us to read Scripture in the order in which it happened. I have read the New Testament already and am reading the Old Testament now, Numbers 5. I have read about the building of the Tabernacle and the placement of the tribes around the Tabernacle. Since I am not a numbers person I have to really force myself to go through any part of the Bible that adds, subtracts and divides people. I am reading it differently now based on the other books I am reading at the same time. What I learn in this Book continuously is when God chooses His people He takes good care of them and since I will never be done reading this book He will continue to teach me this fact. This Book continuously makes my soul long for Him.
The second book I pick up is Water in the Dessert by Sherry Stahl. To tell you the truth I didn’t want to pick this book up at all because first, I am not in a dessert right now and second, the green eyed giant. Each of them was a darn good excuse for not reading this book but they were just that, excuses. Sherry bases this book, so far, on the Exodus account of the Israelites being freed by God. Ironic enough that is what I just got finished reading. My Spirit was there but my soul and flesh did not want to pick this book up. That giant had a hold of me and I couldn’t shake it so I have to have a talk with soul. Had my soul not been transformed by the Spirit I could have been years longer letting that giant take me down. This book (or study) has helped me to bury deep in me the truths I know about our Jesus Christ and make my soul long even more for Him!
Then I pick up the most simple but complex book The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee. This book is most fantastic. It is a pondering book for certain. It is not one of those books you can read and walk away from without pondering the information. I have read a couple of Watchman’s books thus far and my soul is changed forever because I understand my soul better. As I read this book (I am on page 61) my soul becomes more aware of exactly what it should be doing. What wonderful information to know! It makes every Word I read in the Scriptures jump out at me and leave a mark so deep that I will be able to feel it forever. It, and Watchman’s other books together, have helped to create in me a longing for Jesus that cannot be quenched with just Sunday meetings. I long to hear the Spirit talk to me all day long.
Reading three books together may sound daunting to you but to me it is exciting. I read the Bible to know Jesus so the rest of the books I read have meaning in my life. Can they help me to understand the Word better? Can they help me live the Word better? Can they help me teach the Word better? These are the questions I ask when I read a book. If I am stranded on an island and I could pick three books to have I would choose these three books. BUT if I could only choose one it would most definitely be the Holy Bible. We will never long for Jesus by reading any other book! When God reveals Himself to us He does it through His own Word! Choose the Word over any book and He will reveal Himself to you!
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Excited to Learn? YEAH!
Knowledge is one thing but understanding is a whole new ball game. I love it when I begin to understand something whether related to the Word of God or at my job or even just reading a book that is hard to understand. I ponder stuff all the time and ask why a lot. Jesus is so patient with my questions and my lack of knowledge that it just blows me away when He teaches me something new. I do not deserve to know this much or to understand anything He is teaching me because I am so dim witted sometimes. How many times does He have to teach us something before we learn it? Well, let’s see what the Word has to say about that.
I want to start with Proverbs 6:6 when Solomon calls someone a sluggard. Lazy people cannot learn so he says to them go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise. He wants us not to be lazy and learn fully what we need to learn. Wisdom does not come in one day so the fact that he refers to us becoming wise tells me that he knows we will have to take our time learning and be taught often.
Psalm 106:35 tells us that they mingled with the nations and learned their practices. That is us Christians. We mingle with the world and learn their ways in time and act like them but we need to mingle with God and learn His ways so we can become knowledgeable about the things of God. To do this we will have to take our time learning and be taught often.
The Bible was written for us to learn from and Paul needed to tell us just that in Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The length of time it takes us to learn is shown here in the term perseverance. Why would we need perseverance if our learning were going to be quick? Again, we will have to take our time learning and be taught often.
Proverbs 1:7 says that the beginning of knowledge comes from fearing the Lord. Fearing the Lord is not based on what you don’t know it is based on what you do know. We cannot gain a fear of the Lord until we know the Lord. He has buried many secrets in His Word that He expects us to uncover. It takes learning to uncover those secrets. Only fools despise wisdom and instruction – be not a fool and fear the Lord. Take time learning and be taught often.
Read books but always come back to the Word! These are just a few verses that tell us about learning. Jesus taught us the whole time He was on the earth so that we would have a mentor; someone to teach us the ways to walk. Jesus said take His yoke upon us and learn from Him for He is gentle and lowly in heart and we will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:29). Our learning begins and ends with Scripture. We can be taught the Bible from others but the truth can only be found in one place – the Holy Bible. It tells us that we need no other teacher (1 John 2:27) than Jesus and that God will send no one else to tell us the truth (Hebrews 1:1-3) because Jesus has told the truth to us, recorded and distributed it to us that we may learn. When the mystery of the truth is revealed to us it is an exciting thing to comprehend because it has taken us time to learn and we were taught often!
Be persistent this week to spend time in the word with the FULL understanding that it will take time to learn and we will need to be taught many times before we understand. God will reveal His mysteries to us if we persist.
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The Rewards for Study
I don’t know about you, I am an instant gratification person! Well, that might be a little strong but I like to see the reward from my work. I am a hard worker and I can see the reward sometimes but there are times when I work hard and see nothing, if you know what I mean. I don’t see the reward right away and it bothers me! I see that sometimes when I study the Bible! We have been talking about studying the Bible but do we know what we get out of studying the Bible? What is the reward and exactly when will we see this reward? Does each person get the same reward? Let’s see what the Bible says about that….
2 Timothy 2:15 says rightly dividing the Word of Truth, which is studying the Word and knowing it, means we can present ourselves approved to God an unashamed worker. If we diligently study the Word, God will approve us along with the rest of those who study the Word. Each of us will receive the same reward. This is an amazing thing all by itself because everyone will stand before Jesus one day but we will already be approved before we even stand before Him. That is a great thing to know while I live here on this earth but I must continue to study the Word to continue in that approval.
Joshua 1:8 Meditating in the Word, day and night, will surely help us do all that is written in it therefore we will be rewarded with a prosperous way and good success in what we do. If we meditate in the Word and do the Word, God will make our way prosper and give us good success along with the rest of those who do that same. Each of us will receive the same reward. Another great thing to know while here but I need to continue to meditate on His Word and observing to do all that is written in it to continue going in a prosperous way and having good success in that way!
John 8:31-32 A Disciple of Jesus who abides in His Word shall know the truth and that truth shall set him free. The reward for abiding in His Word is freedom. Abiding is more than just doing it is living. If we spend our days abiding in the things of Jesus we shall know the truth, which in turn shall set us free. Each of us will receive the same reward. Oh, freedom is the greatest thing to know but we must abide and continue to abide to know this freedom in the truth.
Proverbs 25:2 God takes glory in concealing a matter so that His kings can search it out to our glory. The reward for searching out a matter is glory from God. We should never be satisfied with our current knowledge but always searching out the matters of God. If we spend our days searching out matters from the Word we will obtain glory from God just like the rest of us kings who do the same. Each of us will receive the same reward. How wonderful it is to know that Jesus will see me as a king and bestow glory on me as long as I continue to search out the matters of God.
We know that all of these rewards are contingent on us continuing in mining for the treasures of God. He wants us to study so that our soul will be overtaken with doing the right thing, the will of God. Our soul will always want to do the ME thing but God wants us to do His thing and that is why we study the Word; to know God and to love Him so much that we do His will out of love.
Please don’t study the Word for your head or for the world, study for your heart and God will reward you mightily with approval, freedom, glory, a prosperous way, good success and so many more. Study the Bible to find other rewards and be further rewarded.
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The Yay’s and the Nay’s have it! Or do they?
In spite of what people may say God has gifted each one of us with gifts to be able to do our jobs. Our jobs consist of how we make our daily income as to not starve to death. We have what the world will call natural talents but we Christians know that these gifts are from God and are for His glory to do His good works. We get excited because we will be able to use them for the good of the Kingdom. When you attempt to activate these gifts inside the Body of Christ we will come across the nay’s and the yay’s in spite of what the Father has told us to do. Should you listen? Yes! Should you obey? Now that is another story all together!
The nay’s are the hardest to ignore. They are persistent and loud. They come from people who love you and people who hate you. They come from those who want to be you and those who just want you to go away! The goal of the nay is to stop you in your tracks – not to redirect you or help you – just to stop you! Stopping you could also mean many different things. It could be because they have a belief system that is built on false precepts and you are challenging those precepts. It could be that you ‘going’ might mean where they are in their eyes isn’t good enough. It could be that they actually have a good misguided heart and don’t want you to be hurt. The problem with each one of these is they are disobedient to the plans of the Father. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:23 get behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to Me! Peter was concerned about the things of men rather than of the thing of God. I am convinced there is a lot of people just like that. They set out to be stumbling blocks to people because they are not dealing well with their own stumbling blocks. It may be their thought processes, their beliefs or they just might be full of spite from their own lack of success! None of this is our problem unless they are successful at stopping us! I think we should listen but with our Spirit to discern the truth! I say, get behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to God and to me. Then I will put the things of God on my mind and keep moving even if I am scared!
The yay sayers may very well be hard to ignore as well! How many times do we need to be patted on the back for a job well done before we become prideful and expect the pat? Sometimes the yay’s are for us to participate in something ‘not’ in the plan of God for us. Quite often this is the case and it keeps us from doing what we are suposed to do. We spend a lot of time doing stuff that doesn’t please God and ironically enough, doesn’t even please us. We clean when we hate cleaning, we take care of kids when we hate it, we lead but are not gifted for it, we preach but are not called to do it. There is just so much we do that doesn’t give glory to God because He has not asked us to go man has and we don’t have the words or the guts to say no. Every now and then we need to do stuff that is not appealing to us but the majority of the time we need to do what God has called us and gifted us to do. God does not gift you to be a door matt He gifts you to empower the Body of Christ. We cannot do that if we are not joyful in our work. Jesus said in Luke 9:24 that if you lose your life you shall live. Losing your life means dropping your own selfish plans and standing behind God’s plan for you even against other Christians who are not willing to lose their lives. All of God’s work is good but not all of it is beneficial to us or the Body of Christ when we are doing it. We need to listen with our Spirit for direction and do what we are told.
The nay’s and the yay’s can be considered but should never be held up before God’s plan for us. He may very well have sent those folks to us to test our faith or to actually get us to stop doing something He never told us to do nor gifted us to do. We need to know our Father so that we can tell the difference between a nay for men or for God and the yay from men or from God. Our lack of knowledge of the Father will always put us in a tricky position discovering what is of God and what is of men. We will be thrown to and fro if we don’t make sure that what we are doing is of God. For us to be successful at doing the will of God we need to put the nayers and the yayers behind us and God in front of us. As long as we are following God we will do exactly what He wants and not worry about what man wants from us.
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What Will it Take? Part 3
I have asked you what it will take to get you to read the Bible – what was your answer? I have also asked you what it will take to get you to study the Bible – what was you answer to that question? Now a new question if you can handle it. What will it take for you to memorize the Bible? I am not asking you to memorize the whole thing just parts of it. What is your biggest excuse for refusing to memorize Scripture? Actually, no matter what the excuse, there is no excuse for not knowing the Word of God. In Proverbs 1:7 Solomon says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and that fools reject wisdom and instruction. I am going to tell you on this day that memorizing Scripture is part of this knowledge because memorizing Scripture makes us ponder what it means to us right here, right now and it give us something to hang onto for future use. Shall you present yourself to Jesus mature in the things of God or not?
I hear all the time that people have “life verses” that they have memorized but I am confused about what exactly that means, or more so, what does it mean to them. They memorize a verse like Romans 8:28 but miss the verses before and after where it says that we are predestined to do good works. They memorize Jeremiah 29:11 but skip the fact that God said seek me first and you shall have this. Seeking Him means knowing everything that He says not just what we want to know at that moment or even for life. Has our soul been so spoiled by what we have been feeding it that we want to have life verses that tell us that we are only going to have good things for the future. What about memorizing Hebrews 4:12 or Psalm 149:5 or Isaiah 49:2 or even Jeremiah 23:29 and John 12:48? We are going to be judged by the Words of Jesus when we stand before Him and if we have never buried them in our soul we will not even know what we will be judged by. This is what the Word means to us right here and right now. It is not about our soul here on Earth it is about our soul in Heaven. Paul said to bring your soul into submission (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). Do not run aimlessly through life only putting fluffy verses into your soul, run to win this race to Jesus. Put verses into your soul that change you, encourage you to keep going and keep you on the pavement. Since our life is constantly changing so should our “life verse or verses” change. Challenge yourself and your soul to memorize a whole Psalm this week. Some good ones would be Psalm 8, Psalm 91, Psalm 100 and the all-favourite Psalm 23. Bring your soul into submission so that in the future you will be able to continue running through that desert.
A time is coming when you will not feel the Father around or Jesus or the Holy Spirit because your soul is inundated with worldly woes. Are you prepared for that? Will your whole Spirit come to a stand still? Will you wish you had prepared yourself? Yes, you will unless you let your soul whining take over. Will God be to blame if life happens and you have not prepared your soul to handle it with dignity? You won’t be alone. There are many Christians out there who have not prepared their souls for what is about to happen but that is still no excuse for them to be unprepared. What is it that you are preparing for? Are you preparing for financial disaster, a death in the family, kids coming or kids moving out, job or job loss? Jesus tells us that where our heart is, that is where our treasure is (Matthew 6:21) but our heart is supposed to be in Heaven and we are supposed to be preparing ourselves for when Jesus comes again. We are being sought after by a roaring lion to be devoured and the only way to beat him at his game is the Word. He will continue to come after us but if we know the Truth it shall set us free from the oppression that he has laid upon us. We are not without power but it is not our power that can beat the devil it is the power of God that beats him. The power of God is His Word and it is sharper than a two-edged sword piercing even to the separating of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).
If you know the things of God you shall present yourself to Jesus mature in the things of God! Is that not what we want? Therefore there is nothing in this world that should stop us from becoming mature and running the race well. Memorizing Scripture will give us this knowledge we need to present ourselves mature because memorizing Scripture makes us ponder what it means to us right here, right now and it give us something to fight the devil with in the future. I cannot say this enough – reading the Bible, studying the Bible and knowing the Bible is the only way to mature in the things of God. It is disappointing to find Christians who are not hell bent on knowing God. Yes, it is work but how well do you know how to search the Internet or run your computer? Do you think that will give you a free pass into the New Jerusalem? How many songs can you sing from memory? What is stopping you from singing a Psalm instead of a song? Can you see how weak your current excuse is, if you just ponder that excuse for just one moment? When Jesus comes He will take no excuses, only the Truth and His Word will judge us! Ignorance of His Word will not save us, it will kill us. We are to bring our soul into submission and make it do what Jesus wants us to do! Unless you read, study and know Scripture you will never know what that is! What will it take for you to understand that God’s will for us will not be thwarted by stubbornness? He knows what you will and won’t do and He will pull you along kicking and screaming if He has too so why don’t you just do what He wants! He wants you to know Him and to know Him you need to read the Word, study the Word and know the Words.
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What will it take? Part 2
I asked you last time to just ‘believe’ but and now I am asking you to go further and to know. We discussed what it will take to get you to read the Bible. Did you start? If you did I am super proud of you! Considering that God has made us all different we will have different ways of getting started and I told you my story so you would know how weird it was and how different God works in our life to mature us.
This week the question is – What will it take for you to start studying the Bible? Reading the Bible is one thing but studying it is something totally different. It takes time and effort to figure out what the Bible is talking about. It takes more than just going to the building where we congregate to study the Word. It takes more than a weekly Bible study to study the Scriptures. We are under the misguided perception that the Bible is incomplete due to missing information. There is nothing incomplete about Scripture. Let us go to Scripture to find out.
Paul tells us 2 Timothy 3:16 the Bible is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness and He said this before the New Testament ever existed. What other book is good for this? Romans 15:4 tells us that Scripture is good for encouraging us so we might have hope. What other book tells us it is there to encourage us and give us hope that also says it is profitable? Hebrews 4:12 tell us this Book is alive as well. What book, any book, can tell us the same and actually prove it? Jesus tells us Luke 8:11 that Scripture is a seed and 1 Peter 1:25 tells us the Seed will remain forever. What more do we need to tell us what a wonderful privileged it is to know the Word of God? What more do we need to decide that it is profitable to study the Scriptures because of it’s powerful characteristics.
Job 11:7 asked us if we can discover the depths of God? Why, yes we can! Daniel 2:28 reminds us there is a God in Heaven who reveals mysteries. Jesus told us in Matthew 13:11 that it is granted to us to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. The great mystery that has been hidden since the past ages has been manifested to His Saints (Col 1:26) is there for us to discover. The question still remains – what will it take for you to study the Word of God?
This week talk truth to yourself and figure out what it will take for you to want to uncover the mysteries hidden in Scripture. There are many rewards for gaining this information and one of them is listed in Proverbs 25:2. Do you want to be a king on the New Earth and go in and out of the New Jerusalem or would you rather just sit outside the gate waiting for the King of your Nation to bring you the latest news about Jesus. When Jesus returns there will be no more mystery to solve but our opportunity to search the Scriptures for this mystery will also be gone along with the reward we will get for searching out those mysteries.One last time I ask you – what will it take for you to begin studying Scripture? Start now and you won’t have to answer this question again.
