I have a challenge for you today. The challenge is to examine yourselves. Do you believe God? Do you believe what He says? I'm not asking if you believe in God. I am asking if you believe Him. Do you believe what He says in His Word? Do you even know His Word? Do you read it, examine it, pray over it, memorize it? Do you live by it? (Matthew 4:4)
I am asking this because I know some who claim the name of Christ that do not believe God. You, my readers, I call my friends. And as my friends, I care for you. So that is why I am asking you this today. Do you believe God? When He says something in His Word, do you take it as truth? Do you follow His instructions for your life, or do you think it doesn't apply to you? (Luke 8:21, Luke 11:28)
Do you pick and choose which things to follow in God's Word? Do you see something you don't like in the Bible and say "That was just for the time that it was written in." I am saying this to you because I think that it is a very dangerous thing to pick and choose what applies to you in the Bible. Who are we to pick apart God's Word and say something doesn't belong there? If something was just written for a certain period and place in history, then why was it preserved forever for us to read in God's Word? The Word of God is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). It grows. (Acts 19:20, Acts 12:24) Are you among so many who believe that we do not have the Word of God among us today, that it was lost many years ago and what we now have is just fragments that we cannot really rely on? Well, if you have a King James Bible, you can be sure you have the Word of God and can rely on it.
I believe many Christians are lukewarm today because it is inconvenient to believe the Bible. We don't want to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced by doing something we don't see everyone else doing. And if everyone else is doing it, it must be okay! That is why it is so important to be in God's Word. No one will stand with us when we come before the judgment seat. We can't point the finger at anybody else, but we will be responsible for what we did with our lives, even the very words speak. (Matthew 12:36)
I am not here to teach you, or point the finger at you. I am no perfect person either. But I care for you and want to stir you up to examine yourself. Do not be too proud to believe the Word of God. Remember that Jesus could not do all that He wanted to do when He was here on this earth due to the peoples' unbelief. (Matthew 13:58)
It is really, really bad to be lukewarm (Revelation 3:16), as it is to remove things from the Word of God.
Have a blessed Lord's Day.
Mrs. Q, thank you so much for this post! We are totally on board with your message here. Those that pick apart God's word in order to fit their beliefs into a culturally saturated life we call, "Cafeteria Christians"... those that pick and choose what they want to believe and label everything else as insignificant because of the time it was written. Unfortunately for them, they've missed the entire point. If you take His word, in its completeness, and use it as the foundation of everything in life, then the hard choices are as plain as day. However, if you build your foundation upon the what the culture says (humanism) and then attempt to inject Christian concepts, you only wind up with the "dog poo in the brownies" analogy. God's word says that there will be those the say, "Lord, Lord..." but He will know them not. That reference is not to those outside of the church, but those that are inside but lacking the true relationship He requires. They will be following a corrupted "gospel" and will be doing all kinds of empty works without knowing our Holy Lord in a righteous relationship. Of course, we're all on a journey and have not arrived yet. However, if we're willing to accept His word in its totality... in these days, that's half of the battle. Sorry for the "soapbox" there... we just feel very strongly about this subject! May we all examine our own lives and pray for those lacking clear vision to see the truth!
ReplyDeleteThis is an issue that has been very much on my mind lately. I have been praying that God will reveal to me areas in my life that are not in conformity with His will and His word, because I do not wish to be numbered among those who are spewed from the mouth of God for being lukewarm.
ReplyDeleteBY the way, I see that you have a pop-up Bible verse feature on your blog that is specifically for KJV. This looks much better than the one that I use, which is from a company that uses many different versions. I'm going to go over to AV1611.com right now and see if I can get it to work on my blog!
Beautiful convicting post my dear. It is true. We are living in a lukewarm world. Thank you giving us food for thought! :o)
ReplyDeleteHello ladies...thank you for your visit! God bless you very much.
ReplyDelete~Mrs. Q
Thank you Mrs Q.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to be provoked to examine ourselves in the faith.
This season is above all a good time to do this.
Preparing to celebrate the Lord's vicarious death and resurrection needs sober contemplation and reflection.
God bless you my friend..Trish
Amen! With so many distractions in our modern day-and-age, it is *so easy* to become lukewarm.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder!
Blessings,
~Michele
Mrs. Q,
ReplyDeleteI read this last night, but didn't have time to comment.
This post was SO good and very convicting. You are right, we need to accept God's word fully, and not just pick-out the parts we think are easy to do while throwing-out the parts we don't like.
Thank you for sharing this with us, Mrs. Q! I think many people need to hear this message that you have given!
-Lady Rose
Thank you for this post! It was very encouraging! The word of God is the "Living Word" bearing fruit in hearts that will recieve it! Excellent truth!
ReplyDeleteGod's Blessings~
Racheal
You know you got my AMEN.
ReplyDeleteFantastic teaching and reminder.
Ought to be helpful to everyone who reads it.
Wow, Mrs.Q,
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent convicting post, and so true. It shows the love you have for your readers, because so many people don't even know they have become luke warm. I was a lukewarm Christian until one day God woke me up.Now its my responsibility to stay awake and wake up others.
The days ahead are dark, we need use our time left wisely.We need to be building up our spirits with faith in the Word of God and faith in the name of Jesus.
God Bless you, MrsQ
Gerie
Amen and again Amen!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post, and yes I do believe and even the hard truth!!!!
Late to the party but I feel this is such a powerful message. I love this and feel convicted by it.
ReplyDelete