PRECONCEIVED THOUGHTS ON THE WAYS OF GOD

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(Isa. 55:8-9)

A famous bus company had for their slogan, "Take the bus and leave the driving to us." This is not the case for most of us when it comes to God and His ways; rather than leaving the driving to Him, we're backseat drivers. 

How like Naaman of the Old Testament we are. Because God didn't do things in his life according to his preconceived ideas of how they should be done, it sent him into a quandary. His problem is seen in his words, "I thought..."

It is a serious thing to second-guess God. It can overthrow your faith. This is seen in Acts 12 at the prayer meeting in John Mark's mother's house, Mary when the early Christians were praying for Peter's release from prison. 

When Peter showed up at the door, they didn't believe it was him. Why? Because this was not the way they had anticipated. They had been seeing outward miracles daily in answer to their prayers, and they imagined this particular prayer would be answered in the same way as the others were answered. But they thought wrong!

There is no situation in which we can figure out God and the way He will do things. The distance between our thoughts and His is too far, as David said, "It is too high I cannot attain unto it." It is infinitely above us. We must abandon our ideas and comply with God's ways.

Whenever you make your request to God, leave it with God!

By An Old Disciple

GOING BACK

"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."

(Jn. 6:66-68)

When asked if I ever feel like quitting, my answer has always been the same, "YES!, I've lost count of the hundreds of times." But I add, "I honestly don't know how to quit. I never learned. It is not found in my spiritual vocabulary dictionary. Therefore, I have no definition of what it means or how to go about it." All I have in the way of its meaning is in observing the lives of those who have. And that is not a pretty sight to behold.

I have heard some say the reason saints give up is that they have given up on themselves, I respectfully disagree: they gave up on God. They stopped believing that He can change a person, that He can pull one out of the miry clay, that He can deliver from anything, that He can cause the chains to fall off, that He is more powerful than the world, the flesh, or the devil. They ceased believing, "He is able."

Winston Churchill was one of my heroes during the 2nd World War. I have always found inspiration from his speech during the darkest days of that war: 

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

As the quip says, "Winners never quit and quitters never win." Many Christians have made it a life, you might say they have made an art of quitting. To go back is to return to the hog pen, to the vomit (says the Bible), to rot and ruin, to the stench of death. The only thing that awaits those who quit is a life of shame, remorse, and regret. They never look up again!

O, dear child of God, if you're tottering on this fence of decision, I beg you to consider C. S. Lewis' wise comment. "A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later." 

By An Old Disciple

ALWAYS TRIUMPHANT-IN CHRIST

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ."

(2 COR. 2:14-16)

Not some of the time, not even almost all the time, but ALL THE TIME! And the man who penned these words had a life that could prove that it was so. The old Puritans would say, "When you fall, shout the victory." They understood that we always have the Triumphant One within us — and that the loss of a single battle does not mean the whole war is lost. I like what Jacob says of one of his sons, "Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last." Gen. 49:19 As Yogi Berri of the Yankees would say, "It ain't over till it's over."

We need not to pray, plead, or make vows to God to enjoy this precious promise, but only to appropriate it personally. 

When the old-time lady of the house called out "supper's on," one need not to fall to their knees before her and beg, but rather sit at the table and appropriate what was provided.

The writer of Hebrews tells us the people of God in the Old Testament didn't enjoy the victorious life awaiting them that God had provided because of their lack of appropriating it by faith. To appropriate simply means, "to take (something) for one's own."

"WHEN GOD PROVIDES SOMETHING HE SAYS TO US, 'HERE IT IS, IT'S YOURS FOR THE TAKING.'" THE REST IS UP TO US!

(rds) 

An Old Disciple

DORMANT TRUTH

"And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey...And he [God] saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor." (Isa. 59:14-15) People want to know if the Bible is relevant today. The above text should answer that question. Just compare today's happenings with the condition of Isaiah's day. The prophet wrote some 750 years before Christ; yet if I were to print it in a news article today, without divulging its origin, the mass of thinking people would say the writer had exceptional insight.  Whenever truth is cast into the streets, only to be trampled on as filth, you can know of a surety that neither judgement, justice, or equity will be able to enter the civil courts or Christian congregations. Truth is first and foremost in all situations of life. In our day we have substituted opinion for truth. We put the inferior in the place of the superior. Such people, saved or lost, live a life of lies! Because they have thrown out truth like dirty dishwater, they're never able to come to the knowledge of it. If they happen to stumble over it, they do not offer to lift it up, but rather, like some, kick it like a cur dog. These truthless pagans are easily spotted; they call evil good and good evil. They acquit the guilty and accuse the innocent. For the small elect remnant who will not give in to this kind of tyranny but rather depart from such evil, they become a prey to these vicious beasts. They are ridiculed and a laughing stock among these mindless, heartless animals. As Paul puts it, "...I have fought with beasts at Ephesus..." When you give way to a bully, he becomes a bigger bully. Stop him in his tracks! The wonder of wonders in all of the above is that God Himself wondered at the absence of an intercessor! By an Old Disciple

YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE!

“Thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted...There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man...for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have...knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world...their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

(1 Kgs. 2:26; 1 Cor. 10:13; 1 Thes.2:14; 1 Pet. 5:9: Rev. 6:11)

Do you see the prevailing theme in each of these five texts? It is not difficult. The common thread is commonness. The simple teaching is, none of us are alone in life’s afflictions, temptations, sufferings, etc. It is most embarrassing, to say the least, to speak to someone about our ills only to find they have like conditions, many times much worse.

The greatest danger in our narcissistic thinking along these lines is that we will be prone to take unwarranted and unscriptural liberties. Our carnal reasoning will be "since no one else knows what I’m experiencing, I am justified in any and all of my actions." Elijah had this problem. He needed to be reminded there were 7000 others like him.

All of us in the family of God need to realize that no matter what our brother or sister’s temperament may be, their station in life, or what plateau they’re on spiritually, they struggle with the same plagues of the heart as we do. It is refreshing as well as encouraging during our dark days to know that all the saints,

in all ages, were people just like us-- great or small!

"MEN OF LIKE PASSIONS"

By An Old Disciple

A HELPLESS CHILD OF GOD!

"Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah."

(Psa. 3:2)

Not any, but "many" it was who said to David he would find no help in his God. In fact, David tells us, it was a daily delight to the devils of this world to taunt him with such. "As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?"

Throughout the scriptures this term was the norm of the wicked against those who trusted in the Lord. To use one of today's idioms, "It was cast in their teeth" daily. Originally it meant to knock one's teeth out with stones. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Talk’s cheap.

When an old man David writes the people of God telling them. "And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him," Psa. 37:40. For you who are familiar with the life of David, knows he knew what he was talking about!

The writer of Hebrews penned, "... for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me," 13:5-6. He said, they said! When God says it, you can be bold in your spiritual vocabulary.

Since we're never helpless, we are never hopeless. When the Greater than David hung in agony on the cross the children of Belial, that is, the children of this world, asked why God didn't help Him NOW. He did, three days later. They were, "Johnny come latelies."

Nothing cuts deeper into the heart of a child of God than to hear the words, "There is no help for him in God."

(rds)

By An Old Disciple 

Turning the Tables

"And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me..."

(Gen. 42:26)

The little idiom, “Turning the tables," simply means to reverse a situation and gain the upper hand. When the tables are turned, the situation has changed, giving the advantage to the party who had previously been at a disadvantage. God is an expert when it comes to this. For example, we're told in scripture, “God turned the curse into a blessing.” As in Jacob's case.

If one is going to make it successfully through this life, he or she must learn to make stumbling stones, stepping stones. A good illustration of this can be seen in the life of man named Tom Dempsey. He was a place kicker in the NFL. He played for several teams during his career. He is known best for kicking a 63-yard field goal as time expired, to give the New Orleans Saints a win over the Detroit Lions. Tom was born with no fingers on his right hand and no toes on his right foot. He wore a special shoe with a flatted toe surface. Most certainly, he used his disadvantage, to his advantage. It could be said of him, “He turned the tables.”

There is a Bible character I have always admired who did this very thing. We are told he wanted to see Jesus who was passing by his vicinity, but couldn't because of the crowds. He was little of stature and couldn't see over the heads of the multitude. And so, rather than giving in to his handicap, he used it to his favor, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree, the result being, he had the best view in the house!

The true test of a man or woman is seen in what it takes to stop them.

ByAn Old Disciple

GOD AND HIS HOUSE

" ...the house of God, which is the church of the living God..."

(1Tim. 3:15)

At the outset of this article, lest I be misunderstood, let me make it crystal clear I am pro-church: I am a 100% church man. Out of a ministry that spans threescore and three years, I pastored two local churches twenty 0f those years.  

From the beginning of my ministry I was associated with a group that, I'm sorry to say, oftentimes, magnified the church at God's expense. They're like in the case of the King James sect, of which I belong — with reservations, who speak more of King James than King Jesus. 

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "He who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house." What would you think of a bride who showed all her friends around each room of the house, showing it off, while her husband, who built it at great expense, sat in the front room unnoticed?

Most certainly Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. But He also loved the world and gave Himself for it. And Paul goes on to tell us He loved him and gave Himself for him. The world and Paul don’t come before our blessed Lord!

A good Bible illustration of the above is Jacob. When he had that blessed heavenly vision at Luz, he called the place Bethel, meaning, the House of God. But upon returning, many years later, he called it, El-Bethel; meaning the God of the House of God. He realized the difference!

It is well to remember that when we no longer have a house to worship in, we still have God! There is an interesting scripture in Psa. 74:8. "they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land." There was no public place of worship; but blessed be the people that know that worship of God is not confined to four walls and a roof. 

Jesus taught this to the woman at the well. "The woman saith unto Him...Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him," Jn. 4:19-21,23. As the old Puritan said, "Going to your closet is as important as going to Church."

"Some people don't know what to do when left alone with God!"

(rds)

By An Old Disciple

A Common Thread

"The Father...the whole family in heaven and earth..."

(Eph. 3:14-15)

One definition of the little idiom we have chosen to entitle this article is, “an idea or theme that is similar to others.” For example, what main thought does the following list of words bring to mind: father, birth, brother, friend, daughter, son, lover, family? If your answer is relationship, you’re right. Whatever else one might associate with this list, the word relational would have to be at the top.

Being a Christian doesn’t have anything to do with knowing doctrine, the Pharisees were fundamental in the “letter,” but were void of the “Spirit.” Nor is it in being familiar with the scriptures. Satan can quote them all day long. Going to church doesn’t qualify one either. John tells us the devil had his own seat where he regularly sat. And even faithful service will not merit us anything; Jesus says to such people, “I never knew you.”

All the above mentioned are to be commended in a person’s life, if they are a result of and not in order to, become a child of God. If you’re doing the latter to be a member of the family, then you’re putting the cart before the ox. The “Fatherhood of God” only applies to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. Paul makes it crystal clear in his Galatian epistle, “For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” To all such, God has sent His Spirit into our hearts crying, “Abba, Father.” What a blessed, affectionate, and endearing term, “Papa!” Every true child of God should be both comfortable and confident in addressing Him as such. Jesus did!

By An Old Disciple

MIND CONTROL

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

(2 Cor. 11:3)

The Korean war began June 25, 1950. I joined the Air Force in December of that year, 1950 at the age of seventeen, and shipped almost immediately to Seoul, Korea.  Mind control is believed to have been hatched during this period of time. It is also known by the term brainwashing.  It is attributed to the North Koreans, as well as the Chinese and Russians, their brainchild. It leaves its victim powerless, he or she becomes like a living puppet — a human robot. Its thesis was, and is: get a person to think as you and you can control the whole of  that individual. 

But we who know and believe our Bibles are aware this all began in the Garden of Eden, over 6000 years ago, not in present days. Paul tells us Satan's intent with Eve was to control the mind, thus bringing her under his mastery. All cults and pseudo religions adhere to this subtle governing over their followers. I believe much of the agonizing torments of the saints’ mental condition today can be attributed to Satanic influence but admittedly, not all. His first step in achieving his goal is to get one to question, to doubt God's Word!

I think a good line to add to the well-known children's song would be, "Be careful little mind what you think." The term, "Give your mind a rest," can be dangerous, in one sense. It is a good thing, I think, to always keep it engaged; that is, keep it in gear. The old timers had a saying, "An idle mind is the devil's playground." Or as others have said, "Still waters gather filth." The Apostle tells us transformation comes by renewing the mind, Ro. 12:2. See also Eph. 4:23 and Col. 3:10. Daily renewal is the secret to victory!

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things...and the God of peace shall be with you."

(Phil. 4:8)

By An Old Disciple

LIFTING OUR HANDS TO GOD

"Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.... Let my prayer be set forth before thee...and the lifting up of my hands.... Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down..I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 

(Psa. 63:3; Psa. 141:2; Heb. 12:12; 1 Tim. 2:8)

For some years now when in prayer, I lift my hands unto God. I begin with my palms down, then turning them upward. It is my way of showing the Lord I am willing to let go of all the cheap toys of this world for His true riches in their place. God cannot and will not fill hands already full!

I have observed it is very difficult for us to, "Let go, and let God." How prone we all are to be holder-oners; we're not too good at being leter-goer's. Laodicean Christians who come to God in prayer with the attitude, "I have need of nothing," gets just that — NOTHING! 

"And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full...."

(Isa. 1:15)

By An Old Disciple