The ABCs Of Christian Survival And Growth Reviewing 2B Learning His Ways

You may have noticed that I've been a little coarse regarding certain things and even unapologetic about it. It's not that I have any desire to offend my brothers and sisters ... but because I love them. For all of our knowledge and all that we as human beings have accomplished in the world, there are some basic elemental and unchangeable truths that we seem to miss with recurring frequency - and they rob us of the most rewarding and only real reason to live. We allow ourselves to be short changed in our relationship with our God when we fail to learn His ways. There are many ways one can choose to live and with evil intention, satan makes them both available and appealing to our flesh. But in truth, our God has laid out for us the one and only way that we should live, and in the end, He alone will be our only judge.

For all that we know and all that we do there is only one true judge of our success in this life and anything we do in it. There is one purpose that we were created to live for, and only one way to fulfill it. The standards we might use to judge the value of who we are and what we have accomplished in this life are worthless and misleading if they're not the ones that were designed and laid out before we were even created. However much we might think of ourselves and relish the idea that we're successful in anything, we're failures if our lives don't measure up to the uncompromising standards of the God that created us. Man's arrogance fueled by satan's influence has rendered so many precious lives that were perfectly created and with holy hope by an incomparable God ... completely worthless.

From the poor unfortunate scraggly man on the street corner begging for money to the richest man in the world, all are seen and judged by the same eyes and praise God, they're not ours! We're not The Judge. They're the eyes of the one that created them both ... and they were created to have equal value by the one who set the standards that He will judged them by. Both were created with the same potential to fulfill God's reason for creating them and both will be judged based on their success in satisfying that reason. There's no true standard that exists other than His and money has nothing to do with how HE will judge them by His Word. If anything, the rich man may have more reason for true pity because "to whom much is given, much is expected" and his money will be an obstacle to his true success if he's not living by God's standards. We can't change or compromise what God has stated and we're only deluding ourselves (and potentially others) if we attempt to value anything apart from His Word. The truth is that our only real value is the value we have to Him, the one who will be the only judge when this life comes to an end. We make that value evident to Him in part by the way we live and we have the ability to eliminate that value.

I've been firm about the need to read His Word because in it we learn His ways and His standards and there's no greater authority than our God Himself. I am fallible - but He is not. If by chance, you've become comfortable and cozy that you've got His ways dialed, consider His words in Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT), 8 "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

We MUST realize that this life is not THE "life", it's merely our preparation and training for marriage. "Marriage?" you may ask. Yes, our marriage to Christ. But when that day comes, will we know Him ... really? Will we know His likes and dislikes? Will we know what brings Him joy? Will we know His heart and the rules by which His house will operate? When we stand before the Father on the day of judgement, will Christ step forward to say I know this person, they belong to me and are fit to live in my house? Or will we force Him to say that He knows us not and that we had no interest in the preparation to live in relationship with Him forever? Please my friends, let us learn His ways - read His Word - the letters He's written to us out of love so that we could know Him. And then, spend the time in relationship to know Him intimately so that when that day comes there will be no fear and no doubt, but instead only the great anticipation and joy of the bride.