"What Are We Teaching?"

"Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Psalm 34:11

What are we "teaching" in Christendom? What are we teaching to our children concerning our faith? What are we teaching to those who sit in our churches, read our books or watch us on television? What are we teaching them about the "person" of God? About who Jesus is? About our relationship with Him? About our responsibility toward that relationship?

Are we teaching the whole truth, compromise or a watered down gospel? Are we teaching them that the Lord is a "Santa Claus" who lives to fulfill our every desire? Are we teaching that it is about worshipping Him and not about the fulfillment of self-centered desires? Do we teach that we are here to do His bidding and will, not Him to do ours? Do we preach grace and mercy without accountability? Do we teach about the blessings only and neglect to talk about the consequences of disobedience? Are we teaching about holiness, purity or the fear of the Lord? Does our teaching revolve around material blessings or eternal life? Are we preaching a gospel of comfort and ease which allows people to neglect keeping their lamps full and wicks trimmed? Does what we teach provoke anyone to have the desire to be hot and on fire for the Lord instead of cold or lukewarm?

It looks like I have spent the whole time just asking questions this morning. But it is so important that we examine "what" we are teaching. The right teaching tends to life, the wrong tends to death. This is not a light thing. There is more to it than this temporary life here on earth. There is an eternity that awaits us all, and if the instructions on how to have life in eternity aren't clear then those receiving the "instructions" are going to become lost and not reach that destination. So, again, let us examine what we are teaching because eternity is at stake.

Have a great day. What are we teaching? Is it the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

For further reading:
Revelation 3:16
Matthew 25:6-8; 15:9
2 Timothy 4:2-4; 3:1-7
John 6:63
Titus 2:1

"Not For Me"

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32

There is one thing I have noticed when talking with people about healing, deliverance and even salvation. Most believe that God can heal them, many believe that He has the power to deliver them, and others know that it is not too hard for God. But, while they believe that God can do it, they don't believe that He will do it for them. It reminds me of the leper who came to Jesus, "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." (Matthew 8:2)

The problem does not lie in God's ability, it often lies in our belief that He really wants to do it. Perhaps it is because we don't believe that we are good enough or worthy of the Lord's blessings. Perhaps we feel that what we are going through is God's will so we won't step forward to receive more from Him. There are as many different reasons as there are people.

What was Jesus' reply to the leper? "And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (Matthew 8:3) The Lord is always willing to do good to us. He desires to give us good and perfect gifts. He won't withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly before Him.

Am I saying that every one who is not healed or delivered or is in need doesn't believe that He can and wants to? No, but I am saying that in many cases we just simply don't believe that He wants to do it for us. We have to get past the idea that God does it for others but it is not meant for Him to do it for me. God loves you and cares deeply for you. He desires to give you abundant life. He desires to show you His wonderful compassion and great power. Why wouldn't the goodness and mercy of God be for you? You are His child. And if He sent His Son and gave Him up for you, then why won't He bless you in your need as well?

Have a great day. Whatever the need is that is in our lives, we should stop thinking that God can do it... but not for me.

For further reading:
Psalm 84:11
John 10:10
James 1:17
Luke 12:32; 11:13

"Overcome Evil"

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

Evil is always present and it is constantly trying to overcome you and destroy you. And when it comes to your life it will either conquer you or you will conquer it. But it is up to you as to who wins- you or evil.

The verse above gives us a choice: either overcome it or be overcome by it. When you read this verse in context it is dealing with those who are our "enemies"- those who come against us, those who sin against us, those who mistreat us, those who take advantage of us, those who abuse us. How do we overcome evil and not allow it to overcome us? The answer is found in the second half of the verse- "overcome evil with good". What does that mean? It means that if someone sins against you, forgive them and give no place to revenge, malice or bitterness. It means if your if your enemy is hungry give him something to eat, if he is thirsty give him something to drink. It means to treat others the same way you would want them to treat you, and in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. It means applying the teachings of God's word to the situation you are faced with. By doing so, you will heap "coals of fire" upon their heads. In other words, you will be allowing the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to have room to work in their lives and you will be freeing yourself up from allowing anger, guilt and hate to consume you.

If you are living on planet earth you will face "evil". Are you going to let it conquer and destroy you, or are you going to conquer it? There is only one way to overcome it- by doing good. And doing "good" translates into: doing what the word of God commands you to do when faced with the evil.

Have a great day. There is only one way to overcome evil and it is with good.

For further reading:
Romans 12
Proverbs 25:21,22
Matthew 5:44

"Seven Times"

"Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments." Psalm 119:164

When I read this verse, my fist thought was-- that's a lot of times a day to praise the Lord. Then my next thought was-- do I praise Him seven times a day? The more I thought about it and broke it down, praising Him seven times a day would mean (based on the number of hours I am up in a day) that I praise Him at least once every other hour. So, when you look at it that way, seven times a day is really not hard to do.

When you stop and praise the Lord each and every time He does something for you, you can well exceed seven times a day. As a matter of fact, instead of walking out the verse above ("I will praise Thee seven times a day") you start walking in this verse instead- "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Psalm 34:1)

The truth of the matter is, when it comes to praising the Lord, that it is not about the number of times we praise Him. There is no "acceptable" or "non-acceptable" number, and there is no "required" number of times we should praise Him. The number of times we praise Him doesn't make us more or less spiritual. It is not about keeping count. It is just about "praising Him". We praise Him because He is worthy. We praise Him when things are good and when they are bad. We praise Him in the daylight and in the night time. It is about having a heart that is filled with praise and gratitude-- and ours should always be.

Have a great day. It is not about the number of times we praise Him- there is no keep score card. Our lives should be a "living praise" to Him.

For further reading:
Psalm 109:30; 135:1;103:1; 115:18

"Privilege of Relationship"

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Isaiah 55:6

"Seek the Lord"-- when? "While He may be found". "Call upon Him"-- when? "While He is near". Have you ever thought about just how truly amazing it is that God allows Himself to be "found" by us, or that He brings Himself "near" to us as well? When you really stop and think about it, it is in-comprehensible that He desires to have anything to do with us, or that He desires to have a relationship with us. The Psalmist had this to say about it. "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." (Psalm 8:3-5)

Seeking the Lord, drawing near to Him, having a relationship with Him is nothing to be taken lightly. Yet, so many Christians seem to be so casual in their relationship with Him. We take for granted that He is always going to be there so we don't commune with Him until we are in trouble and need His help.

It is only because of His great love, mercy and grace that we can even have any dealings with Him, much less a personal relationship. The point is, we don't deserve, and are so undeserving, to have any interaction with the Lord, yet it is a privilege that He has afforded us. So the question then is, what will we/you do with this privilege. Will you take it for granted? Will you neglect it? Or will you embrace it and take advantage of every opportunity to seek Him and draw near to Him?

Have a great day. A relationship with the Lord is a privilege that He affords us, not one that we deserve... so what are you doing with this privilege?

For further reading:
James 4:8
John 15:15; 1:12