What Have You Seen And Heard?

"that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."
1 John 1:3 (NKJV)

If someone was called into a courtroom to be a witness, they would be asked to talk about what they know concerning the court case, they would testify about what they had seen and heard.  If someone was asked what they knew about a certain topic, they would only be able to talk about what they have seen or heard, what they know.  If you had not seen or heard anything, you would not be able to talk about it.  It is the things we know, what we have seen and heard, that we can talk about.

When John wrote his first Epistle, he said he was writing about what he knew, what he had personally experienced, with Jesus.  John was not writing about what Peter had told him about Jesus, John was not just relaying second hand information.  John said he was declaring, he was announcing something he had seen and heard, something he had personally experienced.  In the same way, we can only share what we have seen and heard, we can only tell others about what it is we know.

God has a plan for each person and for the entire world.  God has already sent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, so now we need to do something.  However, there are limitations to what we are going to be able to do.  What have we seen and heard about God?  What do we personally know about God that we can declare and announce to others?  We cannot give away something we do not have and we cannot talk about what we do not know.  We need to know God's Word to do what God has called us to do, and to be able to share the truth with others.

Part-Time Help, Or Full-Time?

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."
John 14:16-17 (NKJV)

Over the years, I have had many jobs doing many different things.  While most of my jobs have been full-time work, I have had some part-time jobs too.  The main and obvious difference between a full-time job and part-time job is the amount of time you are doing your job.  And, if you are hired to work full-time, but you only show up for part of the day, or part of the time you are supposed to be working, that is not good.  Full-time work means you are there to do all the work required and not just part of the work.

When Jesus was physically present on the earth, He was with His disciples and He was available to help them.  Jesus taught His disciples and explained His teaching to them, and Jesus was their leader to show them where to go.  When Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to the Father, Jesus said it was better for Him to go away, so that He could send the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit would be with the disciples forever.  The Holy Spirit was sent to Christians to help us in the same way Jesus helped His disciples.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come to be with us, and be our Helper.  That is great news, but when we need help, do we turn to the Holy Spirit for His assistance?  The Holy Spirit is not a part-time Helper who only helps us sometimes with some big spiritual things, the Holy Spirit is a full-time Helper who is always ready to teach us, show us what to do, and guide us in our life. The Holy Spirit is our full-time Helper, He is always with us, and He can help us in every area of our lives.

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.

Assistance For Living

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."
John 14:16-17 (NKJV)

Sometimes when people get older, or due to a medical condition, they will need help doing some everyday things.  What often happens is that a person will move into a place, or have someone else come to their home, to help them.  This type of care is called assisted living, because someone is helping another person do the necessary, everyday things of life.  If a person was in a situation where they needed assisted living, and that help was available, it would be good for that person to take advantage of the help that was there for them.

When Jesus was on the earth with His disciples, He was their leader, their teacher, and their guide.  Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples that while He would be going away, He would send them another Helper, referring to the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus said He was sending the Holy Spirit, another Helper, Jesus was saying that the Holy Spirit would bring the same kind of assistance that Jesus Himself had given to His disciples, not that the Holy Spirit would be something completely different.

The Holy Spirit has been sent to be our Helper in life.  The Holy Spirit will give us the same kind of assistance that Jesus gave to His disciples; the Holy Spirit will lead us, teach us, and guide us in life.  The Holy Spirit is not here to do everything for us, but to assist us.  The question is, are we cooperating with Him, are we allowing the Holy Spirit, our Helper, to assist us in our life, or are we trying to do everything on our own?  We need to learn to allow the Holy Spirit to help us and assist us, by following His direction and guidance in our life.

Do You Need To Change The Channel?

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

We have all had the experience of watching something on television and then deciding that we did not want to see what we were watching.  And we have all had the experience that when something like this happened that we simply changed the channel.  If we are watching some sports program and we want to watch the news, we just change the channel.  It is not some big thing to do, and we do not even give it any thought, we just change the channel from what we are currently watching to something that we want to see.

There are people who deal with things like anxiety, fear, and depression, things which are usually summed up as mental health issues.  But why do people have these things in their life?  Why are some people anxious, fearful, or depressed, and why is it some people are not anxious, afraid, or depressed?  When I have talked to people about these issues, sometimes people act as though they have nothing to do with those things, but when people have these problems in their life, in their thoughts, it is often because they are thinking about the wrong things.

Just like changing the channel on a television, if we are having the wrong kind of thoughts, we need to change what we are thinking about.  Sometimes people make it sound as though this is not possible, but it is possible, or the Bible would not tell us in Isaiah 26:3 that God will keep us in peace if our mind, our thinking is stayed, focused, on Him.  We need to know what the Bible says, and when wrong thoughts come, we need to change the channel to think about what God's Word says, instead of the negative and harmful thoughts we may have had before.

You Are That Disciple

"Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved."
John 13:23 (NKJV)

Sometimes parents have a child that they seem to favor more than their other children, which is not a good thing, but it does happen.  Sometimes a teacher will have a favorite student in their class, and that teacher will show favoritism towards that student.  Again, this is not good, but it does happen.  Other children and students, who are not treated as the favorite, normally resent it when special treatment is shown to someone else, but if they were that person who was treated as special, that can be a different story.

The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8), that God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to save us from our sin (John 3:16), and there are many other verses that talk about how much God loves us.  But, while this shows us that God is a loving God who shows His love to all, and that God has no favorites and does not show partiality towards anyone (Romans 2:11), it seems strange that in the Gospel of John that the Apostle John would refer to himself as the disciple Jesus loved.  How can this be correct?

In the Gospel of John, John refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved."  While that sounds like John thought that he was the only one that Jesus loved, by looking at the relationship that John had with Jesus, we can see that it is just that John understood how much Jesus loved him.  And this is not something that only John could say, we can say it too, because we are all the disciple that Jesus loves!  We need to know who we are in Christ, we need to understand how much God loves us, and know we too can say that we are the disciple that Jesus loves!

Getting On Course, And Staying On Course

"For we all stumble in many things.  If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  See how great a forest a little fire kindles!"
James 2:2-5 (NKJV)

When you are traveling somewhere, you have some destination in mind.  When you start towards your destination, you might go straight ahead, or you might turn, but if you start on your journey by moving straight ahead, you normally do not just keep going straight ahead. Eventually you will probably need to turn to the right or the left to stay on your course.  While you may start well, if you do not stay on course, you will have problems and you will not reach your destination.

There are people that God has called to do something, and people who want to do what they see in God's Word, who do not succeed.  To be successful doing what God is directing us to do, specifically or from the general will of God in the Bible, we must realize that our words will steer us in the right direction, and our words will also help us stay on course.  We need to say what God has said in His Word, about ourselves and what God wants us to do, and we need to keep on saying those things.

In James 3, the tongue is compared to the rudder on a ship.  Our words set the course for our life, good or bad, and our words will help us to stay on course, and that can also be good or bad.  It is not that our words have some magical power, and by saying something we will make it happen, but the Bible is very clear that our words are extremely important.  By speaking God's Word, and continuing to say what God says, we can set, and maintain, the right course for our life.

Who Taught You That?

"But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
For I neither received it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:11-12 (NKJV)

In the different schools I have attended, I have been taught many things.  And not only have teachers in school taught me things, but I have also learned things from friends, from pastors, and various other people, in different settings, seminars, and conferences.  But, while what I learned and what someone taught me might sound good, was it true and accurate?  If someone was just giving me their opinion, and it was wrong, that would be bad.  For what I was taught to be good and helpful, it had to be true.

Once, as I was talking with a friend, they told me about something they said they were taught by a pastor, and this friend asked me what I thought about it.  My first reaction was that I did not think this idea was something that could be proven from the Bible, and I gave my friend some verses that I believed would be helpful, to show them the truth about the topic.  Later on, I had this thought, "Well, you had to be taught that by some pastor, because you certainly were not taught that from the Bible."

In Galatians 1:11-12, Paul said that he learned the Gospel message from God, not man; his source for what he believed was not just some man.  While God does work through people to teach us things, we must focus on what God is saying to us through these people and not on the people themselves.  Just because someone says something that sounds exciting, new, nice, or whatever, it does not mean it is correct, it must agree with the Bible.  For what people teach us to be good and helpful, it has to agree with the Bible and biblical principles.

What Do You Do With It?

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life - "
1 John 1:1 (NKJV)

It is one thing to have something, but it is another thing to make use of what you have.  You might own a nice car, but never drive it, you could have some music and never listen to it, or you could have food in your home and never eat it.  Just the fact that you have something, or you have seen something, does not mean it is a part of your life or that it is of any benefit to you.  It would be strange to have something useful and then just put it on a shelf or ignore it.

The Apostle John was one of the twelve disciples who was with Jesus during His earthly ministry.  John did not just have a relationship with Jesus from a distance, John spent time with Jesus and did things with Him.  John had a personal relationship with Jesus, and John followed Him and did the things that Jesus told him to do.  John did not just know about Jesus or spend some time near Him, John had a living relationship with Jesus that was a vital part of his life.

In 1 John 1:1, John talks about his relationship with Jesus saying that Jesus was someone he heard about, he had seen, he gave his attention to, and he had direct contact with.  John did not just have knowledge about Jesus from some textbook, John was in a living relationship with Jesus.  Our relationship with Jesus, with God, and everything Jesus provided for us, is not just something we should have on a shelf, so to speak, or something we only deal with on Sundays or in an emergency, it needs to be an active, living part of our life.

Filled With What?

"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;
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;"
Colossians 1:9-10 (NKJV)

If you had a container of some kind, you could fill it with whatever you wanted to.  If you had a bottle, a box, or something similar, the space in this object could be filled with one thing, or a mixture of things.  For example, you could fill a bottle with water, milk, or some other liquid.  If you had a bottle already filled with water, you could also add milk to that, and that bottle would still be full, but it would no longer just be filled with water.  Once you fill the bottle with something, it will be full.

In Colossians 1, Paul prayed that the believers in Colosse would be filled with the knowledge of God's will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  In Colossians 1:10-11, Paul talked about the results of being filled with the knowledge of God's will: a life that is worthy of God, fully pleasing God, being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, and being strengthened with all might by His power.  If we have a mixture of God's will, our will, and something else, will we have the results Paul prayed about?

If we are filled with the knowledge of God's will, as Paul prayed for the believers in Colossians 1:9, then we would not really have room to be filled with something else.  Paul prayed that these believers would be filled with the knowledge of God's will, not that the knowledge of God's will would just be an optional addition to their own will.  God wants us to know His will and to live the life He has planned for us, but the only way to do that is to know and be filled with the knowledge of God's will, and then do His will.

That Is Not A Real Lion

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
1 Peter 5:8-9 (NKJV)

Recently, I was out taking a walk, and as I went by some trees, some birds came flying out making a lot of noise.  My guess was that they had a nest nearby and they did not like me getting too close to their nest.  While this chirping that the birds were making was a bit annoying, it only lasted for a minute or so as I walked by, and there was never any real danger.  The birds were not going to swoop down and carry me away or really hurt me somehow.  The noise they were making was just to try and scare me away, but they could not do me any real harm.

The Bible makes it clear that we have an enemy, the devil, who will do everything he can to keep us away from God's Word and the plan of God for our lives.  The Bible also makes it very clear that Jesus defeated the devil, and while the devil is still out there, he is actually powerless to destroy us, because Jesus stripped him of his power.  The devil still exists, and although he cannot really harm us, he will make as much commotion in our life as he can to try and get us off course.

Some Christians fail to understand the point that Peter makes in 1 Peter 5:8-9, that while the devil walks about as a roaring lion, he is not a real lion.  The devil would like us to believe he is big and powerful and ready to destroy us.  He will "roar" by bringing thoughts of defeat and failure to our mind, but, as Peter tells us, we need to resist the devil and stay firmly rooted in God's Word.  As we stand in faith on God's Word, knowing that Jesus won the victory for us over the devil, we can resist the devil and not allow his work to hinder us in our walk with God.