Right There With You

"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."
2 Peter 2:1-3 (NKJV)

If someone was going hunting, they might wear special clothing to blend in with their surroundings to not be seen by the animals they were hunting.  And there are products available that can help someone mask their scent so that an animal would not smell the person hunting them.  These are both things that someone could do to get much closer to the animal than they would normally be able to, and then, by the time the animal knew that the hunter was there, it would be too late.

In 2 Peter 2:1-3, Peter wrote that in the past, there were false prophets among the people of Israel, and Peter went on to say that there would be false prophets among God's people today.  That seems a bit hard to believe, that there could be people teaching false doctrine that were right there with God's people.  But sadly, it happened back in Peter's day and it is something that is still happening today.  This is why we need to know God's Word so that when we hear something being taught, we will know if it is accurate, or if it is wrong teaching.

When Peter warned the believers that there would be false teachers among them now, just like there were false prophets among the people of Israel, Peter did not say that these false teachers would dress a certain way or introduce themselves as false teachers.  Peter said these people would use deceptive words to secretly bring in false teaching.  By knowing God's Word, and listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can recognize false teachers and false doctrine and keep away from them.

Where Is The Word?

"My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you.
Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart."
Proverbs 7:1-3 (NKJV)

Keeping things in the right place is very important, especially things that are useful.  For example, if you had a new pair of running or walking shoes, and wanted to go for a run or walk, you would need those shoes.  But, if you misplaced the shoes, if you somehow put them in the wrong place and you had lost them, then when you needed to use those shoes, you will have a problem.  By keeping your shoes, and other important things, in the right place, they are where they should be, and you can use them when you need them.

We live in a world where most people have easy access to the Bible, and good Bible teaching.  It is wonderful to have different versions of the Bible, as well as books and audio recordings of good Bible teaching, and there are many ways online to learn about the Bible and what it says.  But, if God's Word is only in a book, some audio recording, or online, and we have not made a habit of putting God's Word into our heart, we will have problems.  God's Word needs to be in our heart, our mouth, our thoughts, and our actions; it should be the main focus of our life.

There are several places in the Bible where it tells us to have God's Word in our heart.  If God's Word is in our heart, if we make His Word a part of our life, then God's Word should influence what we do and say.  If the Bible is just a book, and God's Word is only in some teaching somewhere or online somehow, then it shows that what God says is not an important part of our life.  We do not want God's Word to just be in a book, our notes, in some recording, or online, but we need to have God's Word in our hearts, as a vital part of our life.

What Are You Enabled To Do?

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
1 Timothy 1:12 (NKJV)

Once, while I was out running in the USA, I saw that someone had placed an upright piano out at the end of their driveway, so that anyone who wanted it could pick it up and take it with them.  When I saw that, I thought to myself, "who is going to be driving down the road and just stop to pick up a piano?"  As soon as I had that thought, I had another thought, "if someone who owned a truck drove past, they could easily pick up that piano."  The piano was available, and although not everyone was able to take the piano away, some people would be able to.

God has a plan for each and every person.  In 1 Peter 4:10, it says that each of us has received a gift from God that we can use to glorify Him.  But, while each person has a gift, we do not all have the same gift.  As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:12, the Body of Christ has many members and we are not all the same.  Just like there are many different parts in the human body, there are many different parts in the Body of Christ.  God places us in the Body of Christ as He sees best (1 Corinthians 12:18), and He has gifted each of us in some way to do something for Him.

In 1 Timothy 1:12, Paul said that God enabled (empowered) him and placed him into the ministry.  God had a specific plan for Paul's life, just like He has a specific plan for each of us, and God equipped Paul for what Paul needed to do.  In the same way, God equips each of us to do what He has planned for us to do.  Not everyone can, or should, do the same thing, because we are all equipped and gifted differently.  We do not pick our gift and decide what we want to do, we need to discover the gift God has given us, learn how He has equipped us, and put that gift to use.

God Knows What He Is Doing

"Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.
But he said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send."
So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother?  I know that he can speak well.  And look, he is also coming out to meet you.  When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart."
Exodus 4:12-14 (NKJV)

People can disagree for various reasons, but if you disagree with someone, it should not be just to disagree, but because you know something that is true that the other person does not know.  For example, I do not know very much about how to repair a car, but I have two brothers who know a lot about cars and how to fix them.  It would be strange for me to try and tell my two brothers what they should do to repair a car, or disagree with them about some car repair issue, since I know almost nothing about that.

Throughout the Bible, we see God calling people to do things for Him.  God always has a plan about what to do, and God works through people in the earth to do things.  But, one thing we know for certain is that God knows what He is doing.  God is not randomly choosing people to do things for no reason, God knows exactly what He is doing, and He knows the best way to get things done.  God understands every situation better than we do and He knows what is needed in every situation.

In Exodus 3-4, God spoke to Moses to go to Egypt and deliver Israel from their bondage.  But rather than just agreeing with God and doing what God said, Moses disagreed with God, more than once, and Moses tried to convince God to send someone else to do the work; this was displeasing to God.  Moses was trying to tell God that God's plan was not going to work, but God knows what He is doing better than any of us!  With God's help, we can do anything He leads us to do.  We need to realize that God knows what He is doing, and just agree with God and do what He is telling us to do.

Opportunity Knocks

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."
Galatians 6:9-10 (NKJV)

It has been said that when opportunity knocks, you should open the door.  The idea is that when we have a chance to do something, when it is something good to do, we should take advantage of it.  The phrase is that opportunity knocks, not that opportunity breaks down the door.  What happens with many people is they do not recognize when it is actually opportunity knocking at their door, so to speak, and so those people miss their opportunity, in the same way that someone could hear a knock at their door and never open the door.

We all have opportunities every day, but what do we do with the opportunities that we have?  Another good question is that when we have an opportunity to do something, are we ready for the opportunity?  Does an opportunity come to us that we are unprepared for, and we are then not able to take advantage of it?  When talking about spiritual things, as well as opportunities we have in our natural life, we should take advantage of the good opportunities that come to us and not just wait for something to happen.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote to not grow weary in doing good, and right after this, Paul talked about taking advantage of the opportunities we have to do good to others, especially other Christians.  Paul did not say we should just wait for something to somehow happen, but that as we have opportunities to do good, we should take advantage of them.  When opportunity knocks, when God brings us opportunities to do good, if we will take advantage of those opportunities, it will help us to grow spiritually, and we will be better prepared for more opportunities in the future.