Thursday, August 28, 2014

Light For Your Path

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)

When things are dark you need some light. Have you ever been out walking in a field or in the forest when it got dark?  I have had that experience and there comes a point where you can't see where you are going unless you have something to light the path you are on.  You could just keep going forward the way you think you should go and hope for the best, but that is not a very wise thing to do.  Many people have gotten lost in places like a forest because they traveled in a direction that they thought was right only to realize later that they had made the wrong decision.

Some things are good for giving light and some are not.  Things like a flashlight or a candle will give you light while a chair or a pillow will not.  Having a chair or a pillow would help to make you more comfortable in the place where you are, but they will not help you get to where you need to go. Some people don't really have any light or direction for their life but they do have some things that make them feel comfortable and even secure where they are now.  But without having any actual light you may be comfortable somewhere but still in the wrong place.

God's Word will give us light and direction for our lives.  There is so much wisdom we can get from the Bible in places like Proverbs, in reading stories about men and women of God, and by looking at the life of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit will speak to us through God's Word to show us what to do and the Holy Spirit will remind us about what the Bible says to help guide us in life.  If you need wisdom and direction in your life, in any area, I would encourage you to spend time reading and studying God's Word.  God's Word will give us light for our path and direction for our life.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

A Full Understanding Of God's Will Is Needed

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"
Colossians 1:9 (NKJV)

It is one thing to know what to do and another thing to know how to do it.  For example, you might buy something at a store that requires you to put it together once you take it home.  You have seen the item in the store so you have an idea what it is supposed to look like.  You take your purchase home and open the box only to discover that there are no instructions for putting your item together.  You know exactly what you need to do, put your purchase together, but you don't really know for sure how to do it, there are no instructions.  This would certainly be a problem.

One thing that people ask me over and over is about how to find the will of God for their lives.  This is a good thing to want to know because as children of God we should want to please God and do His will.  But, knowing what God wants you to do is just the first step.  Once you know what to do you then also need to know how to do it and even when to do it; you need the wisdom and spiritual understanding that is referred to in Colossians 1:9.  The good news is that God not only wants us to know His will but He also wants to help us see how to do what He asks and also the best way to do it.

We may know what to do but we also need to have the full understanding of God's will to know how and when to best do it.  We have the written Word of God, the Bible, and as Christians we have the Holy Spirit living in us.  Sometimes the way we know how to do what God wants us to do and the way He wants us to do it is simply through seeing what the Bible says and sometimes it comes to us through the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Ask God to reveal His will to you through His Word and by the Holy Spirit and trust God for the wisdom and spiritual understanding about how to carry out His will.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Lord Of The Work Or The Work Of The Lord?

"But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me.  And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:40-42 (NKJV)

In Luke 10 we read about Jesus being invited into Martha's home.  Martha had a sister named Mary who was also there with Jesus, but these two sisters acted differently towards Jesus.  Martha was busy with serving while Mary was sitting at Jesus feet listening to what He said.  Martha became more focused on the serving than on Who she was serving.  In fact, verse 40 says that Martha was "distracted with much serving".  Martha then complained to Jesus trying to get Him to make Mary help her with the serving but Jesus said Mary had chosen something good, hearing the words of Jesus.

In the past I read this story and thought that Jesus was not being fair, Martha was doing all the work and Mary was just sitting there.  But, I failed to pay attention to the part about Martha being distracted with her serving and Mary listening to Jesus.  When I finally considered that I understood the point to the story.  It was not about one person being forced to do all the work while the other person did nothing.  The story is about one person who was more focused on listening to Jesus and another person who was more focused on serving Jesus.  Sadly the same thing happens to many Christians today.

It is easy to get so busy serving God that we forget about just sitting and listening to Him.  If we get more focused on the work of the Lord than we do on the Lord we are working for we have a problem.  While we are called to serve God and do good works that service and those good works have their roots in our relationship with God.  To be successful in our life and what we do for God it all starts out with our spending time with Him and then serving Him.  Don't get so busy serving God that you lose focus on your relationship with God; the Lord we serve is more important than the work we do for Him.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

The Highest Standard

"The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever."
Psalm 119:160 (NKJV)

In the United States there are many kinds of courts and there is a court called the Supreme Court, which is the highest ranking court in the land.  The job of the courts is to interpret the laws that have been made and if someone does not agree with a decision a court has made they can appeal that ruling to a higher court and if necessary go all the way to the highest court, the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court has the ability to overrule all lower court decisions.  Once the Supreme Court makes a decision it is final because it is the highest ranking court.

This same principle is seen with God's Word, it is our highest authority.  God's Word is the highest standard we can and should live by.  The truth we find in God's Word outranks and overrules everything else.  No matter what we see or hear in life God's Word has the highest rank.  As Christians, as believers in Jesus Christ, we must make God's Word our highest standard.  No matter what others say, no matter what others do, no matter what experiences we have had, we must always go back to find out what God's Word has to say.

To know what God says we have to know His Word, the Bible.  In Psalm 119:160 it tells us that God's Word is truth, God's Word is the highest truth.  We may face problems and difficulties in life but we can overrule the truth of these situations with the higher truth of God's Word.  If we apply the time tested principles we find in the Bible our lives will benefit from it.  If we take what God has said in His Word and we live by that then we will live a life that is superior to anything else.  Read and study the Bible for yourself and no matter what comes in life allow God's Word to be your highest standard.