Tongue Twisters, Scripture Twisters

 At our Bible study one evening, where we meet over the internet, our sister in America asked us how the weather was, we were experiencing hot weather followed by thunder storms.      One of our group remembered a tongue twister.

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We’ll weather the weather 

whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!

Which led me to thinking about the amount of people in these days who twist the Scripture. The pulpits are full of pastors and teachers who twist the Word of God to fit their own lifestyle. The Word of God warns us of these things,  it even tells us why people tolerate and even embrace this, they have itching ears, they want to listen to what appeals to their flesh. 

2 Timothy 4:1-4

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Whilst most tongue twisters are not harmful, they are designed to trip you up when you say them. Those who twist Scripture from the pulpit, or in books and videos, trip us up, and send us on a route that is not Scriptural, but it appeals to the carnal mind, the flesh. 

We should all be Bereans, and test what we hear, see, and read, with the Word of God for ourselves. The people of Berea, tested what Paul said with the Scripture (the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures) before they would believe what he said. 

Acts 17:10-12

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

Scripture twisters are dangerous, they take you down the broad path, rather than the narrow. We are all responsible to God for what we do in this life, there will be no excuses, you will not be able to say, “it wasn’t my fault, the preacher twisted the Scripture.” Because all you will hear from the Lord is, “Depart from Me, I never knew you”

Matthew 7:21-23

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

                                                              Proverbs 30:5-6

Are You Ready?

Christians are waiting in anticipation for the glorious day when Jesus shall come for His church. There is only one church, and that is the body of Christ, and He is the head. All God’s plans for the church, for the world, and for Isreal will be fulfilled. There are many promises made in Scripture that have already been fulfilled. As children of God we must be ready, there are somber warnings in God’s Word about not being ready. About people believing false teachings, false prophets, and false christs. Many people teaching and preaching deception, and taking hordes of people to hell with them. We must be a discerning people and check everything with Scripture. Make sure, professing Christian that you are ready and that you will not hear these awful words from Jesus.

Matthew 7:21-23

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,

shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;

but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, 

have we not prophesied in thy name? 

and in thy name have cast out devils? 

and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them,

I never knew you:

Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.

 

 

Be A Light

 Part of a miners equipment is a light that is attached to his helmet. He could not do his job without it because he wouldn’t be able to see in the darkness.

 Christians know that the world is in darkness. Before the Lord did a wonderful work of grace in our lives, we were in darkness, but there are many in these days who, though professing to be Christian, do not have the Light. They are still fumbling about, looking for the next experience, all froth and no substance. They are, as Jesus said to the Pharisees, the blind leading the blind. Matthew 15:14.                               Supposed men of God, spiritually blind and walking in spiritual darkness.

Matthew 14:8.                                                                                                                                             This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honour with me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Men and women who are truly born again recognise that Jesus is the only source of light. 

He is the Word made flesh, He is our Redeemer. We cannot live in this dark world safely without His light.  Just as the miner needs his lamp, we need Gods Word to light our path. 

John 8:12                                                                                                                                                    Then spake Jesus again to them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 

-We need to be daily in God’s Word. There is much counterfeit in these days, we need discernment, we need to test everything by the light of God’s Word. When we have this light then we can be a light to others, showing the way to the truth that sets people free, that takes them out of the darkness into the true Light. We cannot show others if we do not have it ourselves.

Little froglets

 It has been fascinating to watch over the past few months the development of the tadpoles in my pond. It’s not a “proper” pond but an old bath that I asked the workmen to leave when they put a shower in my council bungalow. A friend dug a hole at the top of the garden and put the old bath in, and then I waited for the rain.

It was a couple of years before there was much activity, and then two years ago a disease wiped them out, the frog spawn died, it was horrible. I emptied the pond and scrubbed it, and waited for the rain. This year has been the best for those lovely creatures, I even had a newt move in, that’s never happened before. I have a chair and go up and sit quietly and watch them, for the past few weeks tiny frogs have been leaving, but some haven’t matured yet, some still have tails and legs, some a tail and two legs, and some have remained the same. I am sure an expert would be able to tell me why.

I thought about this, how when some sinners turn to the Saviour and profess to be born again, they stay the same as the day it happened, there is no growth, no seeking after knowledge of God, and no fear of the Lord, they seem content not to know any more.

Others who desire to know more, develop at a different pace. Age is not a sign of Christian maturity, and neither is the length of time we are born again. 

Romans 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 

We are all to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

As in the natural, so in the spiritual, we all learn and grow at different rates, but those who are growing faster, are to help those with less maturity and understanding. We are to build one another up, help one another, and accept each other’s growth. God is patient and faithful to each one of us. And one day, He will finish the work He began. Philippians 1:6 and we shall awake in His likeness. 

Who is Worthy

Who has the right and title to this world?

Who can rule it?

Who can establish justice and righteousness?

Do you think perhaps the Democrats can do it?

Do you think that the Republicans can do it?

Do you think any administration can do it?

Do you think the United Nations can do it?

I trust that you are not so deluded at this late time in the history of the world that you believe that man can solve his own problems.

The Word of God has made it very clear that he cannot.

Thru the Bible, Vol 58 The Prophecy (Revelation 1-5) by J. Vernon McGee

 

Revealing Light

     I have bought a film which you put on your windows, You spray your window with water and press it on and it stops anyone being able to see in from the street. Brilliant, there is just one draw back, if you put a light in the room, the windows are see through again. So I have to make sure that if I don’t want anyone looking through after dark, I must draw my curtains.

I thought about this, and how we put things in place so that people can’t really know the real us, we hide behind masks. We want people to see only what we want them to see. This may work for the people we come into contact with but it doesn’t work with regards to God. His light reveals all the things about us that we don’t want people to know. It even reveals things about us that we didn’t even know about ourselves. God knows everything about us, and when we come into contact with His Word, then the light of His Word shows us what we truly are. Sinners, wicked, lost, in darkness, in bondage, we are wretched and blind to the truth. But there is hope for every sinner, the Word of God shines in every corner of our hearts, minds and lives, exposing who we are, but it also gives us the answer to our wretchedness.

I close my curtains when the lights shining, I don’t want people to see. But God can see us for who we truly are, He knows our need, and He loved so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to take our punishment. God will one day punish sinners for their sin and rebellion against Him. And the only way out of this condemnation and judgement from God, is Jesus. God poured His anger on His Son, Jesus bore our sins on the cross. 

If you break the law, you will go before a judge, be found guilty and be punished. So it is with God’s law, and there is no one who has not broken God’s moral standard.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believe that in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus said, you must be born again. In other words, you are dead spiritually and your spirit  needs to be born. So we are born from above, nothing here on earth can give us this new birth. We believe in Jesus and all He has done, we repent and receive forgiveness and new life. And we live in the light of God’s Word. So we grow in knowledge and grace, and we no longer put a film over our hearts, and lives, now people can see the real us, because we are living for Jesus, and letting the light of God’s Word, help us and guide us. 

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

We will always need the light of God’s Word. 

Knowing What is Best

I have a little rescue dog, called Shy. Who, a couple of nights ago was poorly with tummy trouble, she kept getting up and needing to go out. The following day she was not herself, but she knew what was best for her, she didn’t eat anything until she felt better. It wasn’t long before she was back to her old self.

It made me think about we Christians who, when we are spiritually sick, and know what is best for us, but don’t always do it. We try desperately hard to sort it out our way, we want to get back into fellowship with the Father and will try all sorts of things rather than repenting and trusting God to help us and build us up again. Scripture tells us that we are not to lean on our own understanding, our understanding is limited, it is often clouded with a world view, but when we repent and put our trust in God and His Word, we soon feel better, our fellowship with the Father and our Lord Jesus is restored, and we wonder why we ever tried our own way first.

We have to remember what is best for us, and that is putting ourselves in God's hands, studying His Word, and believing His Word, and acting on His Word, the reason this is best for us is because God knows better than we do what is best for us, and we can trust Him because He is faithful and just.

So, how do we know what is best for us, by giving everything over to God.