Embrace the Within no. 106

"Every believer is a witness whether he wants to be or not. "

Donald Barnhouse

I need to evaluate my choices. Sometimes my choices are the only witness to what belief in Christ looks like in practice. Yesterday we were talking about the natural tendency of folks to avoid conflict and go along with the group. This is something that has helped people survive in communities BUT it can also be something that leads us to do things with which we are morally opposed.

And that is where I need to be grounded in solid doctrine and practice. How will I know what to say or do when faced with a decision that is popular with the crowd? Will I rely on God’s Spirit and let it guide me or will I avoid the conflict and relent to the spirit of the crowd?

Try all things, and keepe that which is good. Absteine from all appearance of euill.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 GNV

In that conversation I ended with stating that I needed to be good with what I was doing in my life. I spent a lot of time doing what I thought was right and avoiding conflict. Then, I spent a lot of time seeking conflict and embracing division. Now, I have come to realize that no one really enjoys conflict. Folks like to lie to themselves and think they can find peace through conflict. Folks like to lie to themselves and think that having folks dislike or even hate them brings them joy. Folks like to lie and believe that they don’t need other people. BUT these are just deceptions we choose to tell ourselves that don’t stand against scrutiny.

Let loue be without dissimulation. Abhorre that which is euill, and cleaue vnto that which is good.

Romans 12:9 GNV

So, I have to choose what is good, not in my eyes or reasoning, BUT what is good according to the Word and Spirit of God. I need to approach the Word and Spirit with what I can learn and not how it can reinforce what I think I know. I have to conform to the Word and the Spirit and not the reverse. I need to look for where the Word and Spirit are leading and follow obediently. There is always the option that I will get swallowed by a fish and vomited onto a beach BUT it would be much easier for both God and I if I just listened and obeyed.

So, I am going to do what God says and show that I am doing what God says. I don’t want any confusion or division or controversy about what I am doing and saying. I want there to be only one explanation for my actions and words, and that one explanation need be that it’s what God sees as good for my life. And through that spirit of goodness, I can be a better ambassador for His KIngdom.

But the fruite of the Spirit is loue, ioye, peace, long suffering, gentlenes, goodnes, fayth, Meekenesse, temperancie: against such there is no lawe.

Galatians 5:22-23 GNV

Grace and Shalom this week. Shalom to your home. Bless your being. The reign of the Lord is now. Be a blessing to the Lord and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 104

“But continue thou in the thinges which thou hast learned, and which are committed vnto thee, knowing of who thou hast learned them: And that thou hast knowen the holy Scriptures of a childe, which are able to make thee wise vnto saluation, through the faith which is in Christ Iesus. For the whole Scripture is giuen by inspiration of God, and is profitable to teache, to conuince, to correct, and to instruct in righteousnesse, That the man of God may be absolute, being made perfect vnto all good workes.”

2 Timothy 3:14-17 GNV

I have to read the Bible daily in order to know what it says. As a kid growing up in a Pentecostal church, I was content to attend church on Sundays and Wednesdays and listen to the Bible or read a passage while at church BUT I never read the Bible on my own. I got my teaching from someone else all the time. And I think that a lot of my problems that followed until I recently came back to Christ are all based on my failure to read the Bible on my own.

I recently realigned myself with the Truth and that all came about through sitting down and quietly reading the Bible on my own. In all the years I had been going to church and memorized the order of the books and could locate scripture quickly, I never took the time to make reading the Bible an integral part of my walk. Now I understand that taking responsibility for my own walk with God is the only way to have an actual relationship with Him.

I love to read. I am always working on a few books at the same time. I constantly struggle as an English teacher to get students to read. American society has raised students that can read BUT don’t. And not reading gives me the same disadvantage of someone that cannot read. As a Christian, I should be reading my Bible every day. If I don’t take the responsibility to read the Bible daily, then I might as well not be able to read it. And since there are places still where it cannot be read, I should take advantage of the opportunity I have to enjoy God’s Word.

Maybe a lot more of my problems in life would have disappeared if I would have only read the Bible years ago. Who can say BUT the Lord. I do know that I am not going to make that same mistake twice. I encourage us all to read the Bible and not, as brother Tim Winn put it in his reading from today, be “picky readers”.

It’s amazing how God will lead us in our study if we take our hands off the wheel and let Him steer.

Grace and Shalom this week. Shalom to your home. Bless your being. The reign of the Lord is now. Be a blessing to the Lord and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #NoKingButChrist #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows

This is a link to Tim Winn's "Are You a Picky Reader?" referenced in my post. I hope you enjoy it as well.

https://waiting4thetrain.com/2022/12/13/december-13-2022-are-you-a-picky-reader/