Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 4, Day 3

-
This is Week 4, Day 3 from the devotional Lord, Is It Warfare?  There is something that you will find as you develop a disciplined approach to a daily time in the Word.  Your mind and spirit will be stretched by the Scripture and you will also find a rhythm that as time passes in your devotions that you refuse to allow a rushed attitude to consume your time with the Lord.  (Although today’s entry is relatively short compared to some of the other ones.)  Busyness and hurry are great liabilities to us as we read through the Bible.  The soul is greatly fed as you work slowly through these assignments because overcoming the rush and hurry of devotion moves your thoughts into places that you would not normally be able to go.  That is why I know that the messages that I preach weekly make their most impact when they are “crock-pot” fare versus quick, grab it as you can “microwave” pabulum.

-We all come from Adam no matter what evolutionists and scientists might imply.  We were also created in the image of God. 

-“Hath God said. . .”>>>>These are the words the devil will always use.  He will make a conscious choice to work at twisting what God has said.  He wants us to question the integrity, power, and veracity of the Word of God.

-There is a subject that seminaries that train pastors feel compelled to add as part of the “educational” curriculum.  It is a class called Textual Criticism.  It can come as an entire class designated to spend 13 weeks with the matter or it can be dealt with sometimes in classes that deal with hermeneutics.  I have to add from experience that this matter of textual criticism can be dealt with in two ways.  From the very liberal standpoint it can be used to tear down the confidence that a minister, going into seminary had in the Word of God.  Sometimes men who come out on the other side of their theological degrees can be so much more atheistic in their views than they could have even imagined.  This kind of education reminds of C.S. Lewis’ work, The Screwtape Letters, where Wormwood exulted with the idea of “long live our man in the pulpit” in reference to a man who had infiltrated the pastorate as a double-agent.  If Paul would affirm and warn that ministers could be turned into angels of light by the devil (2 Cor. 11) then don’t be surprised to find them teaching in seminaries, no denomination withstanding that attack from the enemy.  Men who teach textual criticism in such a way that diminishes our confidence in the Word of God are not doing any of their students or the church of the Lord Jesus Christ any favors at all. 

-On the other hand, the matter of textual criticism can also be taught in such a way that it is not militant, angry, or defensive but in a manner that those students in that class can walk out without a question in their minds as to whether or not the Bible they hold in their hands is indeed the Word of God. 

-Any manner of textual criticism that attempts to cast aspersions on the Word of God in any manner is breathed from hell.  This is not a matter of arguing for or against a particular translation of the Bible. 

-One subtle accusation started casting doubt about God.  The same identical thing takes place in our times today just as it did with Eve.  The devil will cast doubt in our mind as to what God is working out in our own lives.  He will cast doubt about: 
  • The love of God for us.  (There is no way that God could love you!  Especially after you have done:  a)  ______; b)  ________; or c)  __________.) 
  • The goodness of God for us.  (If God was so good, you wouldn’t be in this set of circumstances right now!)
  • The care of God for our soul.  (If God cared for you then this would not have happened to you!)
  • The insinuation that God is holding out on us and that if we were to quit serving the Lord then things would drastically improve.           

-Eve was deceived because the devil was working in overdrive in an effort to destroy God’s greatest creation.  He wanted the greatest creation of God to bow down and worship him. 

-I would stop at this point with what I wrote in my own personal journal.  The reason is because of the personal nature of the guide which asks the question as to whether or not we have ever questioned the Word of God or doubted it.  I have to confess that I am guilty of it as most of those who are honest enough to admit it.  But here is the trap with that kind of humanistic thinking, it removes God from being the One who orders our lives and it puts us (man) on the throne of the universe.  This is not good!

-When I fall into this line of thinking, I literally need my mind to be renewed and transformed (Rom. 12:1-2) by the Word of God.  Let this mind be in you!  The mind that was also in Christ Jesus!  We ought to draw near with a sense of full assurance that God is just and He is able to finish what he has begun in my life (Php. 1:6). 

More tomorrow. . .


Thanks for reading. . . 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Characters from Pilgrim's Progress -- Evangelist

-
Image
Returning to John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress , I want to look at another one of his characters.  This book over the years has been one I return to regularly and read various scenes from because even though it was written in 1678 still has a profound grip on presenting human behavior in an incredible way.  It was recommended to me by Brother Harrell in Bridge City a number of years ago.  It is rare to dig into this allegory about a man on a path toward the Celestial City and not come away with some spiritual benefit. The next character to assess is a man named Evangelist.  This character shows us the impact that a godly pastor/preacher/teacher can have on one traveling the Christian path.  It is compelling how that Bunyan begins the book by telling us that it is a story of a man who is walking through the wilderness of this world.  If ever there were a phrase that could sum up what we are doing as we walk out the Christian life, it would certainly ha...
Read more

Characters from Pilgrim's Progress -- Valiant for Truth

-
Image
There are aspects of John Bunyan’s famous allegory Pilgrim’s Progress that have more details as you read on through the second portion of it concerning Christian’s wife and children who flee from the City of Destruction.  As their story unfolds, we read about some events that Christian went through but is not as detailed in the first half of the story as he is relating a first person account.  The story told by one of those characters in the second half is who I want us to visit with now.  The character is Valiant for Truth.  What a powerful name that Bunyan picks out for this young man, this young soldier, this young minister.  Bunyan is playing off Jeremiah 9:3 where the weeping prophet notes that there are some who aren’t valiant for the truth.  One of the chief characteristics of John Bunyan is pointed out by Charles Spurgeon and it is observed very clearly in this segment of the allegory.  Spurgeon noted that in reading all of Bunyan’s works an...
Read more

OSTINATO RIGORE

-
Image
Leonardo da Vinci was a man who marked the world far beyond his lifetime.  He made some valuable contributions to the hometown he grew up in.  But it was his drawings that would outlive him.  The principle behind electric doors that are present at department stores was one of his ideas.  The principle behind the lamps and bulbs that have the ability to operate with varying degrees of power was another of his ideas.  I am certain that most people are familiar with his drawings of what he called “flying machines.”  These drawings would be proven true later on as the field of physics and the study of aerodynamics developed.  While some would categorize da Vinci as a genius, from various biographies it is clear that da Vinci had a gifted mind but it was not what many would classify today as an exceptional one.  So what was it that separated da Vinci from the rest of his fellows both in his time capsule and those beyond it?  It was a princi...
Read more