by David Brenneman
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31.
"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality." Colossians 3:23-25.
"Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh." James 3:1-12.
Are the commands of God cumbersome? Are they not for our benefit, even if we do not understand them as yet?
In Proverbs do we not also read about the profit of the discipline that comes from Jesus?
Our world is certainly the perfection of fence riding. Of teaching people from their youth on up that it's ok, it's beneficial even, to live for yourself and to balance that against what anyone else wants including God. That 50-50 is ok.
In Christ there's a significant challenge to that. In Christ we're to deny ourselves taking up our own cross and following Jesus. There's no fence to stand on, lean on, or sit on.
My Dear Reader...Satan's the owner of that fence. Vain and empty philosophy is only rooted in the wiles of the Devil.
Satan's schemes include the belief that this or that desire isn't really sin because it's not hurting anyone.
Satan's schemes include the belief that sensual desires aren't necessarily bad if you find yourself enjoying it and that's all that matters.
Satan's schemes involve compromise on every level of intensity.
We cannot live a life that exemplifies the so-called best of the world and a life that's fully devoted to Christ. A life lived in pursuit of worldly gains rather than a life pursuing whatever the Spirit wants gets you nowhere.
People today...it's mind boggling to see...do not understand what idolatry is. They only have a cursory knowledge of adultery. They dismiss the true effects of cursing.
Such has happened so often that the scars have formed an an insensitivity to the things of God has occurred.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." Romans 1:18-19.
A severe irony is we live in a society of purported fact checkers. People and artificial intelligence programs that supposedly seek out false narratives, false news stories.
"For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Romans 1:25.
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15.
Are you living a diligent life in Christ? Are you absolutely sure?
Are you holding onto things that God's word has defined as idolatry, or other sinful practices?
Are you at all walking in the Spirit?
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." Galatians 5:16.
Are your desires in agreement with the desire of God for you?
Right about now is when most minds cry our with "where's the fun in that?!".
We're not too keen on the truth of God's word when we're not realizing that we're at war. We're not too keen on the truth that we have an enemy when we come to Christ for salvation. We're not too keen on the truth that our sin nature is on the side of our enemy. We have that sin nature until God calls us home or the Rapture of the Church happens.
We're not too keen on really believing that God's truth in His Word is absolute truth. It's not to be bent to fit our personality or personal desires.
We cannot live a life that has both pure water and filthy water coming from the same vessel and be glorifying God in the process.
Take inventory of your life.
Take inventory of your so-called successes.
Take inventory of what you hold dear to you.
Take inventory of where you really are in life with Jesus.
We're to live lives that cause others to see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. We're to live lives that are a testimony to the greatness of our God.
The great revivals of the past came about solely because the Spirit moved people to the point of self examination and facing the truth about themselves and their relationship with Jesus.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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