Chris challenged us deeply from the book of James. Specifically chapter 1, verses 22-25. He shared that A. W. Tozer said, “No man is better for knowing that God so loved the world of men that He gave His only begotten Son to die for their redemption. In hell there are millions who know that. Theological truth is useless unless it is obeyed. The purpose behind all doctrine is to secure moral action.”
He challenged us with these points:
-The intake of God’s Word is not enough.
-Our intake of the Word must lead to obedience.
-Only knowing and obeying (or doing) brings true freedom.
Be doers, not just hearers! Listen to the teaching HERE.
Yesterday I was a literal mess. (Okay... probably more like yesterday times 100). I fight myself, God, and the world for control. I want to see the last page of the book before the second chapter even begins and know how it’s gonna end... even though I know how it ultimately ends! As I tried to reel my mess in... my fears, my emotions, chaos in my heart and mind... I began in Psalm 25 and was immediately greeted with “In you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust... Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me to Your truth and teach me; for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long... My eyes are ever toward the LORD... The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses... Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me... for I take refuge in You... for I wait for You...”
In You I trust. Do I truly? That’s been my theme of 2022... My eyes are ever toward the LORD. Are they? Ever is a big word! The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Check. For sure. There’s a magnifying glass that keeps getting stuck between my eyes and my troubles...
And then Proverbs poured it on as well, but it began to feel more like a soothing than an irritation: “It is the glory of God to conceal things... do not hastily bring into court... ...with patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone... a man without self-control, is like a city broken into and left without walls.”
Maybe this is exactly what I needed to hear... It is the glory of God to conceal things and a man without self-control, is like a city broken into and left without walls... because those reminders felt like Vaseline on chapped lips...“the healing power.”
I don’t know exactly why, but I dove in to Colossians chapter one: “...asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins... He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”
I so very much long to be fully pleasing to Him. I long to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Yesterday I needed to be reminded that peace only came through His cross and His blood. I needed to get there... to confess, to be stilled, held, repentant, redeemed and reminded that He is I AM, I am not. That is good and it feels good.
*Taken from LIFT Weekly email.
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