Life On the Highest Plane
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
Sometimes the Christian worker has lost his power for no other reason than neglect of the Bible. Because of this his message is devoid of freshness and fruitfulness. The inevitable result is the giving of his own word in the wisdom, eloquence and energy of the flesh. This God never promises to bless.
1 Corinthians 2:4, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."
1 Thess. 2:13, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:14). "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63). Can we think it possible that the food on our tables should be so transmuted in nature's laboratory that it should reappear, now in stalwart muscle of the blacksmith's arm, and now in the fine texture of the poet's brain, and let it not seem incredible that the Word of God can reappear in every kind of spiritual power and holy efficiency?
The Word of God is a Lamp to Guide
Psalm 119:105, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Pitfalls are all around the Christian; the devil has well-laid snares to entrap.
2 Timothy 2:26, " And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
Psalm 119:110, "The wicked have laid a snare for me; yet I erred not from thy precepts."
The straight and narrow way is not always easily discerned and still less easily followed. In these perilous times when there is so much of the world in the Church and when even the shepherd of the flock may walk in ways quite contrary to the Word of God, many an earnest Christian is perplexed and at a loss to know what is a consistent walk. He surely needs a light upon his path.
But he needs even more than that; he needs to be shown each step of the way. The Word of God is just such a guide and, when it is hid in the heart and heeded in the life, the Christian need not wander nor stumble. His every step may be ordered in full conformity to God's will and ways because in full obedience to God's Word.
Psalm 119:133, "Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me."
Psalm 37:31, "The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide."
Many mistakes are made by Christians through seeking and following the counsel of men rather than that of God. Some have lost the way altogether and are living outside the will of God because they have listened to man's voice. I know a life that is shipwrecked upon the rock of human counsel, devoid of both peace and power. We cannot be reminded too often of the solemn fact that Adam's sin came through heeding Eve's voice, and Eve sinned by believing obeying the devil's word instead of God's There is but one absolutely safe counselor for the Christian, the Word of God.
Psalm 119:24, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors."
2 Timothy 3:15, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
The teaching, instruction, warning, correction and guidance which every Christian needs to make him complete and to equip him for service are all to be found in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16, "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 12)
No comments:
Post a Comment