22)
Seeing ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23)
Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24)
For all flesh is as grass,
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away:
25)
But the word of the Lord
endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
|
I |
t
should come as no revelation that there is not much that is dependable, today.
Not only do things change, but people change, also. The only stability existent
in the world, today, is the Word of God and as the "end times
conflict" escalates, things will get worse.
As
saints of God, we are to take our joy, hope, confidence and strength in the
things of God. We are to be "comfortable" only in residing in Him.
Our only "safe" place is in His Word and once we are blessed to gain
a place, we are to abide here. The only way that one abides is by settling down
in the things of the Lord; "wearing" His statutes and becoming
"satisfied" by nothing and no one else!
You
see the reason that the Lord sop stringently admonishes us to come to
"settle down and be a home in Him" (abide in Him, if you will), is
because He knew from the beginning that this would be the only thing that would
last forever and never change.
What
we find in the World and our churches, today, is the proliferation of the habit
of "manufacturing" your own "Word" and then trying to apply
the Word of God to it. Men have tried for centuries to change the Word to fit
themselves and their circumstances. In fact, perhaps at no other time has the
habit been so apparent than in these times. But, in light of the fact that we
have the authority of the Bible assuring us that the Word will never change, we
have no choice but to "line up."
Contrary
to what we would like to believe and who we would like to blame, Man becomes
deceived by his own thinking. The greatest contributor to this problem is the
belief that he has a right to make his own decisions. This persists despite
salvation and the fact that the Word tells us that Jesus is the "...head
of the body..."
We
serve a God of Spirit Who inhabits a spiritual,
heavenly place. The "heavens" (both literally and figuratively) are
"higher" than the earth, so it stands to reason that His
"ways" would be higher than ours. Anyone Who
exists by virtue of Himself and is able to create another being with whom to
fellowship, would certainly have to be superior to the created being, wouldn't
He?
By
His very sovereignty, it is impossible for the Lord to bless a being inferior
to Him-unless that being does what He declares to be necessary to fellowship
with Him. That is why, if the Lord would ever bless us while we are in an
"inferior" position (i.e. beneath what He requires), we would never
think it necessary to change.
Much
of our problem lies in the fact that we have misplaced priorities. How is this?
Quite a few of us came to the Lord because of problems or there being something
that we wanted. Very few come to Him out of a desire to serve Him. Since this
often is the motivation, upon salvation, one can still consider his decisions
his "business."
The Word "endures" (is
unchanging) so that we have an "anchor" to hold us in the roughest of
"seas."
You see, salvation has been designed to "test" one; prove him that
the might know for what he can be used. Instead of our tests being the
"liberators" that they are designed to be, too often, we are
"condemned" by them instead. Why? Because we take
too many things personally.
Along
with being told this, we are told many other things, as well. Very little that
is said to us seems to have much of an effect. This is because little that is
said to us changes us. In fact, nothing has the power to change us but
ourselves. You see, we must agree to be changed. We must see what we really are
and our need for change. Apart from this, any "change" made will be
fleeting, at best.
The
"qualifications" that we frequently put upon our salvation, along
with the expectations, can combine to undermine both our usefulness and
"longevity" in the Lord. You see, when we decide that anything must
go a certain way and that there is a certain "standard" of the
behavior of others to us which must be met, we line a path for destruction.
We
can no longer deny the Lord the right to be the Example for which He died. It
seems almost instinctive that allowing Him to be all of what He is, means that we must be, likewise. You see, if we try to
make Him more of a "detached" Savior, as opposed to the
"kinsman-redeemer" sacrifice that He was, it removes us from the
realm of responsibility.
What
a big responsibility it is, for if we follow Jesus, we have neither
"room" nor time for bitterness or guile. You see, Jesus' tests were
greeted by Him as means to display even more of what the Father had given to
Him. Maintaining His even temper and Spirit was one of the "gifts"
bestowed upon Him and all who would follow Him. Therefore, He made sure to
demonstrate this.
We,
too, must "rise above" what is sent to upset us. When we are moved to
the inappropriate attitude, we are moved because the level of the attitude is
the level at which we live-the level of the flesh. As long as this is where our
focus lies, this is how we will spend our time.
Man
will not see heaven without developing an appreciation for Jesus. An
appreciation for Jesus means that one has appreciation for the Word. Man is
saved, kept and nourished through the Word. The secret to all of his needs is
in the Word. Faith-is in the Word! The power of deliverance-is the Word! Joy
and safety-they're in the Word! When one does not know where to go-he can run
to the Word!
The statements, commands, requests, blessings and confound in the Word leave us with no question as to how conduct ourselves. Since there are no answers to any problem outside of it, if one has no confidence in it, he has confidence in the Lord. If this description fits you, you are "loser," indeed. Wouldn't you agree?