Please Talk to Me Lord

If we ask God to show us truth and He has shown us the Bible we are then responsible to obey Him. Perhaps this is the reason most people don't read it, because they don't really want to follow it. Or perhaps they read it to show off how much they know but have no desire to actually follow it. Here is what God says about this matter.

John 14:15-16 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—…"

John 14:21

"Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him."

John 14:23

"Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

John 15:10

"If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and remain in His love."

1 John 2:3

"By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments."

Wow, seems very clear to me!!!!

The Justice and Mercy of God

Psalm 5:11-12

"11 But rejoice, all who take refuge in You,

Sing for joy forever!

And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may rejoice in You.

12 For You bless the righteous person, Lord,

You surround him with favor as with a shield."

Psalm 7:14-16

"14 Behold, an evil person is pregnant with injustice,

And he conceives harm and gives birth to lies.

15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,

And has fallen into the hole which he made.

16 His harm will return on his own head,

And his violence will descend on the top of his own head."

Psalm 7:17

"17 I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness

And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High."

Praise the Lord that He is justice and will avenge all those who belong to Him. Praise Him that those who humble themselves will be shown mercy and for those who will not humble themselves we see justice for those they have harmed.

Luke 18:9-14 "9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Knowledge is not Wisdom

Proverbs 4:4-6
"…4 he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them. 6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you."

Proverbs 4:7
"Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding."

Proverbs 16:16
"How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver"

Proverbs 1:22,23
"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? …"

It is impossible to follow Christ without wisdom. Those who have Christ will follow HIm because He imparts wisdom. Knowledge alone does not bring wisdom.

 
1 Corinthians 8:1-2 "1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know."

A man can have much knowledge and still be without good sense.
Proverbs 11:23 "23 The desire of the righteous leads only to good, but the hope of the wicked brings wrath.…"

Proverbs 2:6
"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;"

Six Things the Lord Hates

Proverbs 6:16-19
"16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
Seven that are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who declares lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers."

God hates even just a proud look!!!! Haughty eyes, wow, things that are not actions but show up on our faces as reflections of our hearts.

He hates wicked plans, these are ideas in the head that have not yet been carried out, yes, even just desires to ruin others.
He hates those who lie even without actions, their words work ruin on the lives of others.

He hates gossip that causes problems between friends that would not otherwise be hurtful. Spinning a story to make someone seem like a bad person when they have done nothing worthy of discipline is the worst kind of covert hatred.

And, finally, the feet that rush to do evil things to cause discord and trouble out of jealousy or contempt.

God hates all these things!!!!

Proverbs 6:20 "My son, comply with the commandment of your father, And do not ignore the [c]teaching of your mother;"

The mother's teachings are as important as the father's and each one should support the other. I know it because God said it!

Another Tradition Exposed

Another untrue tradition we were raised with was that God changed Saul's name to Paul.

"But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him."

Acts 13:9

Saul was the Greek name and Paul was His Latin name. His name was not changed it was just transliterated into a different language.

It may not seem like an important matter but if we care about truth and the significance of it we will want to know the smallest matters. Many misconceptions arise when we do not know the truth.

Keep seeking truth it is very interesting when we realize how many things we were taught that had no basis in fact. Learning the truth is a wonderful thing.

Think About It Einstein

"The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance." Albert Einstein

"We can't solve today's problems with the mentality that created them." Albert Einstein

The Most Ignored Passage in the Bible Today

Hebrews 3:12-14 "12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.…"

This is one of the passages that is being ignored in the church culture today.

We are encouraged to correct one another as often as needed and sadly in our day, there is much need often.

And, God told us that in our last days we would find most people highly resistant to correction from His Word. I have been far more rejected and shown contempt by those who say they are Christians who misuse the Bible and are angry with anyone who chastises them for it.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

When they cannot come up with a good answer to justify their disrespect for God's Word they will accuse you of many things to discredit you in their own minds.

They will accuse you of being a woman, of not knowing the scriptures when you just quoted it to them, of the WAY you said it and many other manipulations to make themselves feel justified in rejecting God's Word.

Personal attacks on our character is the favored tool of those in rebellion. Rather than addressing directly the subject they will begin personal attacks to divert attention in an attempt to make their target feel ashamed. Do not buy into this tactic. The devil often shames those for doing what is right, that is on him and the one he uses, ignore it, and stay to the subject.

It shouldn't matter which gender we are, or even the way we said something, it only matters whether or not it was true. Those who want to disobey the Word of God and who claim to be Christians will always distract us from the subject at hand to avoid having to admit they were wrong or that they didn't know what they were talking about. These are those who do not learn, but will even regress because of their stubbornness. Any wisdom they had will be taken away because of their angry spirit and resistance to the truth.

Matthew 13:11-13 "…11 He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

13 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’…"

If we want to grow in holiness and great wisdom we must be willing to accept correction from other wise believers while checking with the Bible and the Holy Spirit to see if it is true.

As we grow in wisdom we do not see challenges as a bad thing, it doesn't even hurt our feelings because we have no pride within us to cause hurt feelings about being wrong.

The only reason we have hurt feelings is that we are self-absorved and self-exalted. When we know we are nothing and Christ is everything challenges do not frighten us. We see them as an opportunity to grow and change or if we are falsely accused we see them as an opportunity to develop a stronger character to be able to properly answer with God's Word.

In other words:

Deuteronomy 31:6

"6 Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”