the more we come to know...

do you believe that the bible has the power to help you be what GOD wants you to be? 

a CHRISTian was debating an atheist on this very topic.  the atheist said, “i put no stock in the belief that mere words printed on an old page of an old book can in any way impart power to someone’s life.”  the CHRISTian said, “let me give you a scenario.  let’s suppose that you were driving through south central los angeles in the middle of the night by yourself without a cell phone and your car breaks down.  and let’s just suppose you’re on this dimly lit street, your hood is up and you have no idea what to do.  you think you’re by yourself until you hear some nose and some shuffling down this street and you see the images of ten large men walking in your direction.  would it make any difference to you at all to know that those ten men had just finished their weekly bible study?”  the atheist had to admit, “i suppose it would make a difference.”

the bible helps us to know who we are to be.  it’s in the pages of GOD’s word that we get the best look at JESUS CHRIST.  we read about HIS priorities and HIS value system.  we can study HIM.  it’s like holding the mirror up to our life.  we can say, “do HIS priorities match my priorities?  i need to make some adjustments.”  we tally up HIS value system and our value system.  looking in that mirror we can say, “i’m not yet as much like JESUS as i want to be.  i’m not acting like HIM in the way i want to be.  i’m not reacting the way JESUS would react.  so i still have some adjustments to make.”  that’s why bible teacher beth moore says, “keep looking into the mirror until you no longer see yourself but you see JESUS CHRIST.”

colossians 3:16 (tlb), let the words of CHRIST in all their richness, live in your heart and make you wise.  the more we come to know the word of the LORD, and the more we come to know the LORD of the word, the better our decisions will be.

just a thought from the front porch…

if HE knows then why do I need to ask?

the fact is GOD knows what you need before you ask. 

there’s a logical question that goes along with that.  if GOD knows what i need before i ask why doesn’t HE just give it to me right now before i even ask? 

listen, prayer is not informing GOD of your need.  HE already knows about your need.  prayer is not informing GOD of your need.  it’s depending on GOD for that need. 

it’s saying, “this time, with this decision, with this need in my life instead of depending on myself, doing it my way, figuring out how i want to do it, GOD, i’m depending on you.  you show me how.  you show me what i need to do.  you show me what steps i need to take.  you show me where i need to wait and where i need to work.  you show me.  i’m depending on you.”

before we go to the next phrase in the LORD’s prayer let me ask you, what’s the greatest need in your life?  now you don’t need to tell me.  you can if you want to.  if you do tell me i can be as sympathetic as i can be but i can’t really meet that need.  i may love you and want to really meet that need but i can’t, GOD is the only one who can meet it and you need to recognize that fact today. 

just a thought from the front porch…

get through it or it gets through you…

knowledge increases responsibility.  the more we know the more we’re accountable for.  what am i doing about what i know? JESUS said, to whom much is given, much is required.  and james 4.17 (nkj) says, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

illustration:  let’s say you decide to get concerned about my health.  you my come to me and say, “bill, as you’re getting older we don’t want you to have a flabby body, or furniture problems -- where your chest drops into your drawers -- so you decide to buy me as a gift the p90x fitness program.  you say this can change your life.  it’s fantastic.  it has changed the lives of millions of people.  it will keep you strong.  it will be a blessing to you.  do it.  it will change you.”  i say, “great”.  so i go away for 90 days and then come back and i’m the same guy.  you say, “what happened?  didn’t you read the instructions, the book, didn’t you do what it said?’ what if i said to you, “i read them.  i enjoyed it.  this is a fantastic book.  i loved it.  i even underlined portions of it with colored markers and memorized sections of it and even started a group study of the book and looked at the origin of every single word of the book.  every night i would spend a couple hours studying it.” 

how often do we do that with the word of GOD?  we give awards for memorizing scripture, but we don’t give awards for doing scripture.  we get a plaque that says “i read through the bible” but don”t get one that says, “i did the bible.”  we need to mark our bibles, but we need to let the bible mark us.  it’s not how many times you've been through the word of GOD, it’s how many times it’s been through you.  you’ve got to be a doer of the word.  i used to deceive myself in thinking that because i had knowledge that it made me mature.  having knowledge of a bodybuilding book doesn’t produce muscles.  just because we know something doesn’t mean we act on it.

just a thought from the front porch… 

words without love are empty…

if i don’t live a life of love, nothing i say will matter.

1 corinthians 13.1 (nlt), if i could speak in any language in heaven or on earth, but i didn’t love others i would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a claiming symbol. GOD says words without love are just noise. words without love are empty.

we’re really impressed by great speakers, great communicators. we love eloquence. we love charisma. we love to hear somebody really ring our chimes and really stir us. GOD says, “that doesn’t impress me at all. I don’t care how good of a communicator you are. I want to know if you love. is your life a life of love?” living a life without love means nothing i say will matter.

if i don't live a life with love, nothing i know will matter.

1 corinthians 13.2 (nlt), i may have the gift of prophecy. i may understand all the secret things of GOD. i may have all knowledge. but if i do not have love, then i am nothing.

you may be phi beta kappa, a mensa member, you may be brilliant, a walking bible encyclopedia, have incredible knowledge of science or math or literature or history. you may be a genius. but he says if you don’t have love in your life, all that you know is worthless. it doesn’t really matter. brilliance without love equals zero.

we live in a world where knowledge is exploding. it doubles about every six years in our society. we are smarter than we’ve ever been before than any other generation. but we still have the same old problems – war, terrorism, crime, abuse, prejudice, hatred, violence. why? because what the world needs is not more knowledge; it needs more love. without love, nothing i say will matter, and without love, nothing i know will matter. all the knowledge in the world can’t compensate for it.

just a thought here on the front porch…