Passing on our faith and the stories behind it...

 

I have been reading lately in the Bible about Abraham. Today I read a devotional about him and Isaac and the time Abraham went to offer Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice. Why did Isaac lie down and go along with the plan? The devotion said it was because Abraham had told his son about all the miracles that God had done in his life to that point in time.  Thus, Isaac knew and trusted God.

This was a reminder to me to tell our children and their children, our grandchildren,  about the miracles we have seen God do in our lives.  Think back and remember those miracles.  Tell them to your children.  Write them down so the generations that come will know your stories.  Then they can know that God is real.  Then they can remember that God can be trusted to do what He has promised to do. 

Psalm 78:4 We will...tell to the generations to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

Ask God to bring these miracles to your mind. Then be sure to write them down on a slip of paper so you can go back to it and write from there.  I often find the Holy Spirit brings things to my mind.  If I write them down I can go back to write from my notes but if I don't write them down then I don't remember the thought anymore! 

Testing - temptation or a test? Who from?

 

I am really excited about what I learned about this topic!  When a temptation, a problem, or a difficult circumstance comes who is it from?  Is it a test or a temptation? Is it from God or from Satan? 

In a book I recently read by an author, Dr. Robert Jeffress, this subject was addressed.  The book was going through the Lord's prayer and explaining it verse by verse. I found the explanation of this next verse very interesting.   

Matthew 6:13  And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Dr. Jeffress went on to explain that in the English language, we have two different words. Temptation which means to entice to do evil.  He said that God never entices anyone to do evil. James 1:13,14  "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."

Thus Satan is the one who tempts us to do evil.  

The other word is test, which means a difficult circumstance used to strengthen our faith. The Bible says God does test people. James 1:2,3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 

So in English, we have two words with two meanings for the idea of test/temptation.   In the Greek language, there is only one word that has two meanings.  In Greek, the word sometimes means temptation, an enticement to do evil. The same word in Greek can mean test, a difficult situation to strengthen our faith.  

Now using what we have learned, let's look at another verse.  Genesis 22:1 says: After these things God tested Abraham...  In this chapter, God was asking Abraham to take his only son Isaac and to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.  How did Abraham respond?  Did this instance cause him to sin and disobey God....or did it cause him to obey and increase His faith and obedience?  Was it a test that led to sin or did it lead to a stronger faith for Abraham? We know Abraham passed the test!  He trusted God.  God provided the sacrifice, a ram.  God blessed Abraham for his obedience and faith. 

All this to say what really matters with the testing or temptation is how we deal with it.  If the problem entices us to do evil and destroys our faith it is a temptation. Satan has the victory.  If the problem strengthens our faith it is a test. God has won and our faith has been strengthened.

Complaining about others....

 Many years ago our family was attending a church that we were very thankful for as it was good news for our ears in that it preached the Word of God.  

I was honored to be able to teach in the children's Sunday school classes.

But I became unhappy with the worship leader.  It seemed to me that he showed up late for worship and then tried to pick a few songs to sing in worship.  It annoyed me that he wasn't prepared for leading worship.

Then the Lord spoke to me.  Was I doing the same with my Sunday school teaching?  Was I showing up and winging it?  Was I prepared in advance? Was I giving honor to God through my responsibilities?

Since then I have tried to do things differently.  I have tried to remove the log from my eye first.  When I am blessed to be able to teach I try to spend time studying the lesson ahead of time. I try to know what the lesson is about, print out handouts, gather supplies, and be prepared.  

This was a good lesson to me not to look at what others were doing but to do what I was supposed to be doing so that my deeds honored God! Then I could gratefully, earnestly, humbly pray for others that they might be able to do the same.

Luke 6:42

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

Keep on keepin' on...for today and tomorrow

 I have been discussing with myself this past week the topic of reading about God and His Word.  Sometimes I read... and then I wonder what I read.  Did I learn anything?  

I remember Gail's mom reading in her late years not long before she passed.  I knew she read the words on the page but I wasn't sure she knew what the book was saying.  

This is my conclusion.....We may not understand or retain all we read but we will learn something so KEEP IT UP!

I heard Charles Stanley say in one of his messages this week, "We don't drift towards holiness." We won't become holy without working on it.  We won't be what God wants us to be without working on it. 

As with anything we do that we want to be good at - be it your job, a sport, or parenting - we must work at it.  So it is with being a Christian - we must work at it.  

SO:  Keep reading! Write in your book!  Take notes! Make an outline!

This year I am using a journaling Bible given to me as a gift.  I love that there is room to write in it.  So as I read through my current book about the Sermon on the Mount I am writing in it and I am writing in the columns of the Bible what I've learned in the book about the sermon from Jesus.  Sometimes we will have time to do this in-depth study....other times we may just get to read a little bit in the Word or in a book that will help us in our Christian walk. 

I'm saying all this to encourage you to keep on reading and learning as you pursue your Christian lifestyle.  You won't become better at it without continuing to learn and grow.  You won't remember everything you learn but you will grow! What you learned will be a help to you for the day you read it.  Sometimes you will only have a few moments to read a little.  Other times you may be able to dig deeper into the Word.  Just do what you can when you can!

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Discernment-

 Discernment - a topic I have been thinking about.  Then today I had a devotion about it. In the devotional Charles Spurgeon said this:  Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.

This picture looks pretty right - in fact, it is almost right!

The author in this morning's devotional went on to explain that her father was an expert in the field of books and their values.  He had this capability because he had read ever so many books and had spent time looking them over and studying them.  He knew an authentic book when he found one at a yard sale or flea market.  He had discernment about what was real and true.  

Let's use this idea then and turn to spiritual matters. We hear many ideas each day as we read, talk to friends and co-workers, and listen to the media.  I think many of the ideas we hear are almost true... the ideas have some truths in them that are right and then some ideas that aren't right. As Christians, we must be very discerning as to what we let permeate our thoughts and beliefs. We must be very careful what we believe.

One of my first favorite verses I learned as a Christian was Romans 12:2.  I knew it talked about living a new life and not conforming to the world.  I didn't realize until I read this devotional that it also talks about discerning between good and evil.  

Romans 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Along with that verse let us look at 1 John 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We must be very discerning in every area of our lives- finances, relationships, and parenting. But it seems to me this is especially true today in the spiritual realm.  So many things that are taught are only partially right and the other half is almost right.  But that won't do.....we cannot water down or change the word of God.  We must live by what the Word says to be true.  We must know Truth!

May we seek to be discerning Christians.  I pray we may know the difference between right and wrong/ mediocre and best/ truth from falsehood/ truth and half-truths/ right and almost right.  May we may know what is 'of God' and what is 'of man'.