Psalm 97:9-11 "…9 For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods. 10 Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart.…"
Over the years God began opening my eyes to many things while more beliefs and practices would fall off, replaced by truth. So many things most believers enjoy and do today I am no longer interested in. They may not even be bad or evil things, they are just not commanded by God so I am free to leave them alone if I choose.
Our culture engages in a lot of unBiblical tradition. I am alright with others making their choices to do these things, however, I want no pressure from others to do the same just because everyone else does them.
I remember as a child I drove people crazy with the question, "why do we do this?" Because of my continual questioning everything, I never fit in anywhere. I didn't fit in because others very often did something that was merely their desire and not purposeful in the Kingdom of God while being intimidated by the simple question, "why?"
Often when people are asked to explain their actions or observances, they give a half baked answer using out of context sentences from the Bible, that have little or nothing to do with truth. The explanations are always heavily peppered with human wisdom and desire. And, sadly the very things they think please God are not pleasing to Him because they come from a heart that is looking to please self rather than Christ.
Of course we all, me included, do things God never commanded, the problem is not that we do these things necessarily, the problem comes when we fight and argue over them, demean and mock, even devaluing others who don't do what we do.
Legalists are adept at creating guilt over things that have no basis in Scripture. Those who make extraneous rules not found in the Word explicitly, are full of pride, not because they follow them, but because they look down their nose at others who don't do as they do.
Deuteronomy 4:29
"But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul."
1 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. 3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,…"
Romans 14:4-6 "…4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One man regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.…"
We are to judge and speak against sin, but much of the fighting going on is not about sin, but humanistic ritual that God never commanded.
Our responsibility as believers in Christ is to ask God for ourselves. Those who do not ask God are more vulnerable to humanistic legalism, that only detracts from our walk and leaves distaste in the mouths of non-believers who are watching our lives.
A suggestion: Ask God to remove all pride from our lives, expose anything we believe that is not truth and ask the Lord what He wants from us while reading His Word that He might speak to us. How can anyone go wrong when they are asking God to reveal truth!!!!
We have no excuse for not knowing something, God promised if we ask He will show us truth.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
Matthew 6:5-15
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. ..."
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
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