As a teenager, many years ago, a wise man told me "Never trust another man to tell you what God is saying to you from His word. Read it for yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of it. Then sift everything in your life through it." I've followed that advice for decades since and it's blessed me immeasurably.
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:15-17 (NLT)(Emphasis mine)
"He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth."...
Truth. When it comes to the most important issues of our lives, both now and eternally, what is the truth? The wise in humanity know that the truth's found in the whole of God's inspired word from cover to cover and they consult it. But it's not always the easiest to understand and it's easily taken out of context for a variety of reasons and purposes - sometimes intentionally and other times even unintentionally. The easy thing to do is to let someone else read it for us and let them tell us what it means, but there's a serious potential danger that comes with that ease if that's all we do.
Anytime we settle solely for a human being's interpretation of what God has said in scripture without studying it ourselves and asking the Holy Spirit for understanding and the application into our own lives, we open ourselves up for a possible insertion of contamination into our understanding.
Whereas God is unchanging, human beings are not and are subject to their own personal human bent and framing perspective as well as to the changing conventions of current society and the unintended personal error with even the best of intentions.
There's a very real question that anyone simply settling for the easy route should ask themselves - do you trust your teacher with your life? Because not only does what God's said have consequence for a potentially distant, but very real future, but it carries the wisdom and the instruction needed to live a life under God's blessing and covering versus being subject to the buffeting of living a life exposed to a world under an ancient curse. How good is the information that you're receiving? And how could you judge whether it's good or not without studying what God's said for yourself? How can we be sure?
There are two verses in the book of Proverbs that say the same thing and the fact that the wisdom is repeated bears significance to me when I think about listening to the things that I hear - even the things that might sound personally appealing...
"There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25 (NLT)
I personally don't even trust myself. I study what God's said for myself - from cover to cover (because it's all part of the same woven message and picture - we need all of it to see the picture clearly) and I trust the Holy Spirit to make clear what I read to my understanding. This doesn't necessarily happen in a minute, a day or even a week, but somewhere along the line, when the time is right, it falls into place and fits in context with the rest of what I know from scripture perfectly. I also seek wise counsel when needed, listen to teachers that I've learned to trust over time because of the accuracy of their use of actual scripture (that I'm able to back up from my own study) and their submission to the Holy Spirit.
With something as vitally important as our relationship with God, the understanding of His heart and the pathway that He prescribes for our lives to follow, do we dare neglect our own study of it given all that it means to our existence and that of those that we love? If you're paying attention, you no doubt know that there's a serious and concerted effort in the world to compromise and even expel morality as God has defined it. There are also teachers - popular teachers, who attempt to water down and sweeten the word of God to be more palatable to their congregations. But if it's changed in any way - taken out of it's intended context, is it still the word of God? The short answer is NO. And how would we know if it's changed unless we've studied it ourselves and allowed the God who dictated it in the first place to make it clear to our understanding?
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:12 (NKJ)
The enemy's on the move and His prime target isn't the wicked in the world. He already has them right where he wants them. His most treasured victories are against those who would be faithful to his enemy - our God, through deception disillusionment and discouragement. A deceived "Christian" can be a dangerous weapon that he can use and we need to be on our guard constantly.
(Jesus speaking) "For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time." Matthew 24:23-24 (NLT)(Emphasis mine)
When it comes right down to it, how will we know the difference between the truth and anything else? When it counts, what will we check the things we hear against if we don't already have the truth in us? Our ability to discern between the truth and fraud, biblical fact from fiction depends in part on our ability to call on our own biblical base and knowledge of scripture - what God's said. Without that already in us, we're operating in "Handicapped Christian" mode and are potentially subject to the power of someone else's persuasion to deceive us. In this day, that's not a wise gamble.
"But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ " Matthew 4:4 (NKJ)
The knowledge and understanding we gain from the personal, diligent study of scripture coupled with the impartation of understanding from the Holy Spirit becomes a sieve that we're able to sift everything we see, hear, and feel in our lives through. If it doesn't fit when sifted through the word of God, it doesn't belong. Without that biblical base - that tool, we're at a potentially serious disadvantage in an obviously corrupted, fallen world.
Don't be unarmed. Read your bible. Study it and ask the Holy Spirit for understanding and application of it in your own life ... Or take your chances, ... but in the end, remember that you had the choice.
"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 (NLT)
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