|
LET'S TALK ABOUT... |
|
|
THE DEEPER LIFE |
|
|
|
THE CHURCH ON HIGHER GROUND |
|
|
|
HOMEPAGE |
|
|
|
SERMON NETS HOMEPAGE |
|
|
|
SERMON NETS MENU |
|
|
|
HOLINESS AND VICTORY |
|
|
|
HOMEPAGE |
|
|
|
SERMON NETS ON HOLINESS |
|
|
|
HOLINESS #1 |
|
|
|
SERMON NETS ON VICTORY |
|
|
|
KEYS TO VICTORY #1 |
|
|
|
KEYS TO VICTORY #2 |
|
|
|
KEYS TO VICTORY #3 |
|
|
|
KEYS TO VICTORY #4 |
|
|
|
KEYS TO VICTORY #5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|
|
| ||
KEYS TO VICTORY #4
#1 God Makes It Simple
#2 Life is Really Simple
#3 Trust In The Lord/Ps.37:3;Pr.3:5
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I am not about to tell you that there are no difficult sayings in the Bible. Actually the Bible says many things which have puzzled men for ages, because it is deeper than anyone can ever fathom. However, there is much in the Bible which is very easily understood.
The Bible is a book for all readers. God, as the Author of this great Book, designed His Message to be understood by all men. It is for the educated and the simple; the young and the old; the Jew and the Gentile; the religious and the irreligious.
Though It is a Book which contains geographical, political, religious, economic, moral, scientific and historical information, It is not actually a Book dedicated to any of those disciplines. It is a record of God and His relationship with the human family. It is a revelation of God in His love for a human race which has rebelled against Him and His all knowing love. It tells us how we can come back to God from a life of sin.
I am sure there are parts which have never been understood, and there are parts which are not understood today and there are probably parts which will never be understood until Jesus returns to earth to set up His kingdom. Since It was written in three different languages and covers cultures and people on three different continents over a period of thousands of years, we can easily see the potential for misunderstanding. However, there have been thousands of years of scholarly study and investigation spent on translations and explanations. There are more documents available to verify the accuracy of the Bible and It's translations than any other ancient or historical record, and therefore It is accepted as authentic and genuine.
There are multitudes of translations in many languages which help with the understanding of the text of the Bible Itself. There are countless commentaries, studies, sermons, expositions and any number of other documents available as instruments used to explain the Holy Record.
God has seen to it that His Word was not only delivered to His ancient people and preserved through the ages for us, It has been made available to us in a multitude of formats, both written and spoken.
The great problem in understanding the Bible is not an academic one, but a spiritual one. As the fellow said, when he was asked if he was having trouble with the parts of Scripture which he didn't understand, "It isn't the parts I don't understand which are giving me trouble, but the parts I do understand." The Bible is not just a book to be understood intellectually, but practically and spiritually. It is not a book to be argued academically, but rather to be believed and obeyed.
The Bible has withstood Its detractors and attackers though the years. No scientific facts have ever contradicted the Scriptures. "Science" and "History" books change with every new edition, but the Bible not only stays the same, It is constantly being confirmed by factual discoveries. There is more to the Bible than any one person could ever master in this life. The deeper one goes into the Scriptures, the deeper It appears to them.
Yet, the message is not so much acquired mentally as it is spiritually. Great scholars of giant intellect may be able to give the historic settings and linguistic background of the Bible without understanding Its true meaning. Theologians may be able to explain the language and doctrines of the Bible, but never connect with It's true meaning. Children who hear and believe the Bible are able to understand Its message better than those who view the Scriptures only as a work of literature. The Bible is more than simply a record, it is revelation of God Himself. As we accept and relate to this revelation, we grow in our relationship with God and our knowledge about God. To reject God's revelation of Himself is to reject God and therefore we find ourselves distanced from God and His truth.
But He makes It simple to understand if we accept It by faith.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
For the most part, life is pretty simple. I know there are lots of arguments to the contrary. But still, life is pretty simple. It is all the "stuff" we add to it that makes it complicated. Let me illustrate.
Like for instance: In the industrialized world, the daily use of water per person is between 33-66 gallons a day (just for convenience we can say 50 gallons a day). Only about 2% of that is used for drinking and cooking. However, we would have no problem if we would get along with less than 20 gallons per person per day. And that is with washing machines and flush toilets. Even with 20 gallons per day I am being very generous. Our western world is so spoiled and wasteful. In many parts of the world they could only dream of that much water being available. And don't think that we can continue in our western world to waste it...one day we will find ourselves wishing we had it again. Though the world is 75% water, only 3% of that is fresh water, yet only 0.2% is available for drinking because most of the fresh water is either ice or subterranean. When we realize that much of our water in our western society comes from treated water from our rivers which are the dumping grounds for industrial waste, hospital and septic waste systems, we can see that we are already on very thin ice (pun intended). If we lived on this 20 gallons limit we would each save almost 11,000 gallons a year. In the U.S.A. we have over 250 million people. The savings on water would be over 2 1/2 trillion gallons a year. (I could be wrong, I was once before *smile*) By the way, I would not be considered a "tree hugger."
So what is my point. We don't really need all the "stuff" we have, not even the essentials at the amounts we use. But being consumers of both essentials and stuff, we make life much more complicated than it needs to be.
Most wives really do not need to work. But to get and keep "stuff" they need the extra income. Forget that their place is in the home (most others have forgotten it anyway) and forget that God has established the roles and directions for both men and women (something else our post-modern and post-Christian world has forgotten.) Unless there is some strange and urgent need for the wife to work outside of the home (like the husband can't work or he died or the sorry scoundrel ran off with some home wrecker), then a wife and certainly a mother has no business in business which takes her away from her home or family.
No! you can't be everything. That is a lie of the devil to make sure you are not what God calls and commands you to be. And No! you cannot have everything either...another lie to sidetrack Christians. But because we allow the world to set the agenda of life for us and we allow satan to lead us astray from God and His Word, we are making life complicated and failing at what should be fairly
simple...LIFE.
I admit that it takes a submissive spirit for a person to find and live the simple life, but making it complicated does not help us or glorify God. This does not mean that there are no trials or challenges in life. But it means we are able to confront and overcome our trials and challenges more easily because we have the resources available to deal with them.
A more simple and more productive life is available to those who are willing to say "no" to the things in this life which siphon off our time, money, energy, talent and everything else which is needed to attain that which God evaluates as success. The simple life can help us with our relationships, needs, health and our service to God. Life is simple, why complicate it.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord..."
I don't know about you, but I often face problems which are beyond my understanding. Sometimes I encounter trials, and have no idea why. It is at these times I must trust in the wisdom, power and goodness of God. I must believe;
1) He knew ahead of time what was coming into my life,
2) He has the power and authority to allow or dis-allow these trials in my life,
3) In His wisdom, He allows these trials into my life for my good and His glory.
There are so many problems we face and the answers are not always easy to understand. It is safe to say that the answers are sometimes not understandable or available. That is what it means to "walk by faith, not by sight." Sometimes God just tells us what He expects from us and does not explain the details of our dilemma.
It is much like the relationship which exists between a parent and child; the child must trust regardless of his understanding. The parent knows best and the child does not always need to know the particulars.
* Sometimes the particulars are beyond the child's understanding.
* Sometimes the particulars are none of the child's business.
* Sometimes the urgency of the situation does not allow for the luxury of explanation.
Whatever the reason, the child does not always know the details behind the issues. Likewise, the children of God do not always need to know the details of life's issues, but we do need to always TRUST AND OBEY. Remember, TRUST and OBEDIENCE are the "flip-sides" of each other, if you do not Trust, you cannot truly Obey and if you do not Obey, you cannot truly Trust.
This is why the Psalmist said, "Trust in the Lord and do good" There are plenty of people who claim to trust God, but then they do not do what God requires of them. There are lots of people who do good deeds, but they are not trusting God.
When someone has a "faith" which does not work, they are actually "presuming" on God, not "trusting" Him. As the Bible says in the book of James, "...faith without works is dead" and, "... as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead". Dead faith is useless. "Faith" without works does not save. "Faith" without deeds does not trust. "Faith" without obedience is not Biblical or Christian. "Faith" without doing good is not victorious living. When we face a major trial in life to which there is no visible escape, we are to "Trust in the Lord." This does not mean we are to trust Him because we have no other options, but because He is trustworthy. We can count on Him. He has never failed, and He is not going to start failing with us. In the maze of our confusion, He is our guide and our way. In the flood of heartache He is our comfort. In the void of poverty He is our supply. In the dark of our fear He is our light and our courage. In the pain of our sickness He is our deliverance. In the face of defeat He is our victory. This is why we can trust Him. He is our all-in-all.
If and when we trust, we will do the right thing, regardless of how difficult it is. Trust demonstrates itself through obedience. Trust demonstrates itself through deeds. We may not feel like doing the right thing, but by faith we do it. We may not know the right way to go, but by faith we trust in Him and He will lead us.
TRUST IN THE LORD AND DO GOOD.
| Site Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
Verse of the Day |
|
|
