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Colossians 2:8, My Take…

Apr29

Back in the days of Paul, the Apostle, the church at Colossae was facing a dilemma much like Christians face today. False teachings and philosophies based on human reasoning contradicted the core message of Christ. His obvious warning, therefore, was to be diligent in spending time with God in prayer and His word. And to surround themselves by a supportive community of faith. That is just the advice we need today.

Case in point. The philosophy of self-autonomy (governing oneself without outside interference) permeates society these days. Yet, I have witnessed it creating confusion in the minds of some young adults I’m close to. For they are advised by counselors (even some Christian counselors) to make decisions or choices that reflect one’s genuine self! Conforming to imposed rules or the opinions of others is to be rejected. You know, like God and parents!

It’s understandable that these young victims of such a philosophy could get quite heady with this kind of freedom initially. But not having to answer to anyone but themselves eventually leads to disaster. Christian young adults who have drifted from consistent engagement of the teachings of the Bible and an encouraging community of fellow believers are most vulnerable. Without a growing source of God’s truth and supportive community, they are blinded. Unaware of how they are being manipulated, deceived, and distracted by the fiery darts of the enemy.

Consider this. An emerging adult heads out into the waters of adulthood. They leave behind the community of faith they were once a part of. Spending time with God in prayer and His word and hanging out with fellow believers no longer has the priority it should have. So what’s going to be their guiding factor when the waters get a bit rough? How will they steer themselves in the storms? At first it may be thrilling and exciting to steer their own ship. But the storms will come. What then?

As appealing as being your own boss is, it is a direct contradiction to the Truth thoughts in Scripture. This is how the enemy tricks us. Remember Eve, in the garden of Eden? Her desire to be her own boss led to the fall. And just as it will today, choices made to please ourselves alone will lead to sin.

The high sounding nonsense saturating the philosophies of our day are to be recognized and rejected. But without the power of wisdom supplied by the Truth thoughts of Scripture, we simply won’t have the discernment.

Listen, there is NOTHING in this world more fulfilling, NOTHING that offers more peace than living to please God. NOT the empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world!

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light

Proverbs 2:6-12, My take…

Apr22
Old monk reading ancient book protected by magical shield from dark spirits

Prov. 2:6-12,(written by Solomon)

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up success for the upright;He is a shield for those who live with integrity so that He may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His loyal followers. Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity—every good path.  For wisdom will enter your mind, and knowledge will delight your heart.  Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you, rescuing you from the way of evil— (the protective power of wisdom) Prov. 2:6-12

I came upon this verse in search of a prayer that I could pray over my grandchildren. Some of them were embarking upon a journey into adulthood for the first time. They had proper training in their parent’s home. But now they were weighted with the responsibility of applying that training. And that, I knew would require wisdom beyond their years. So what would they do?

Would they turn their eyes from looking at (or ears from listening to) what was worthless as they had been trained? Or would they pick and choose those ideas promoted by a world view that contradicted their biblical training? There was visible evidence that both perspectives were being considered.

I had walked this treacherous path in my youth. Therefore, I was familiar with the pitfalls of human reasoning and false assumptions. The verses from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 made it obvious as to what I was up against. Yet, upon venturing out into the world, my naivety blinded me. Naivety and immaturity. I lacked the protective power of wisdom.

Thankfully, God finally got my attention and turned me around. Just in time to prevent me from ruining my life by my own self-centeredness and self-serving ways. It started with a full surrender of my life to God. A full surrender to live my life and walk the path God had chosen for me. I began to simply “Follow His Lead.”

And with that surrendered will, I took to reading God’s word. With the Holy Spirit’s prompting, I changed the friend group I ran with. Focusing instead on surrounding myself with friends who would support my commitment to Christ. And graciously God provided those new friends. I read books that fed me spiritually. One such book was “The Saving Life of Christ” by Ian Thomas. (Published in the 1960’s. and is still in print.) With every plunge into God’s word and moments spent with God in prayer, wisdom entered my mind and knowledge delighted my heart.(just as Prov. 2:6-12 declared) At the time I didn’t recognize the protective power of wisdom. Yet, I benefited from God’s guardianship just the same.

It was the growth of knowledge and wisdom that enabled me to recognize those whose words and actions contradicted what God had been teaching me. It was only when I made choices which served my self-centeredness that I got off track. (and with my human propensity to sin the struggle to please myself over God was ever present.) Therefore, many foolish choices which would have led to harmful consequences in my life were avoided.

So the earlier the better our full surrender should be made. Which is why I fervently and consistently pray Proverbs 2:6-12 over my beloved grandchildren. Foolish choices made during this season of their lives could have serious and permanent consequences to their future. A future that needs an appreciation for the protective power of wisdom.

Remember – Ecclesiastes 12:1

Apr8

In the first verse of Chapter 12, the author admonishes us to “remember our Creator in the days of our youth.” Here’s how the NLT words it, “Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”

In our younger days, particularly as we begin emerging as an adult, we can be heady about our new found freedom. We may find ourselves constantly pulling away from the restraints of our parents. When we are successful in liberating ourselves from such restraints, too often our actions are thereafter overly influenced by the desires of our hearts. A young heart that has not had time yet to be damaged by life’s unpleasantness. Yet, a heart which is naive and immature and can be easily led astray.

During this period of our lives we are just getting our balance as we take our first steps spiritually. What we once saw as not permissible for us as Christians, our immature hearts now rethink such actions. And without a steady intake of godly wisdom our hearts will become desensitized towards what is sinful (fiery darts). Our hearts will take over as our judge, not the Word of God. But what we forget is that the decisions, the choices we make in the days of our youth will follow us for the rest of our lives. (Good or bad)

When we get to the latter season of our lives we won’t find life as exhilarating as in earlier seasons. For troubles have been encountered. Some of those as consequences of choices made with a young and perhaps foolish heart. And some of those that just show up as a result of living life.

Honoring God while we are young and before life begins to knock us around builds up our spiritual reserves. So when we arrive at those not so pleasant times of life, our hearts have grown in maturity. We are less naive. As a result there is a lot less baggage with which to complicate our lives. Drawing upon our spiritual reserves, made while we were young, supplies us with protective power. Power we need in order to deal with life as we grow older. Therefore life is not as unpleasant as it would have been otherwise. All because we didn’t forget God in the days of our youth.

Follow His Lead…

Oct29

What is God’s will for my life?

That is a key question for Christian young adults. And a question that is often struggled over. As a young adult Christian, many moons ago, I needed to know the answer to that very question. So, I’m going to share my story of how God answered it.

After high school graduation, honestly I wasn’t asking God what He wanted to do with my life. There was a family member who had attended business college and it was suggested I look into that. Sounded plausible. I enjoyed my business classes in high school,, so why not. I enrolled and eventually secured a secretarial position.

The secretarial job gave me some independence but I still lived at home. I continued living at home and traveled to the city for my job. I figured I would eventually find some guy to marry and become a mom. When children came along, I would not work outside the home. That was my idea of what my future might look like. Now at this time, I still wasn’t consulting God about what His plan for my life might be. I continued moving forward into what I thought adulting entailed.

Then in my 21st year, due to the influence of a godly woman, my course changed. This lady had invited a college student, a former MK-missionary kid, to come speak at my church. After she spoke, she and I struck up a conversation. And as a result, she invited me to come visit her at her university, about one and a half hours drive from my home. So we made our plans.

At that time, my life was taking some ill advised detours. And slowly but surely, I began to feel the weight of guilt about some of the choices I had been making. Fortunately, by God’s grace my community of church friends began putting on the pressure to hold me accountable for those choices. Eventually, I began to listen.

From that point on, I began paying more attention to the people God brought into my life. I began to pay more attention to the situations that presented themselves. Eventually, I enrolled in the Christian college where my friend attended. I began reading my Bible more faithfully and spending time with God in prayer. And as I grew spiritually, God’s voice became louder. He asked me to do some hard things. And by doing those hard things, I proved, to myself anyway, that I was all in. Following God’s lead became my modus operandi.

Follow His Light!

So, you want to know what God’s will is? Start by just following His lead!

Doing right in your own eyes – isn’t a new idea!

Jul10
God’s way is always lit up!

Prevalent in society today is a philosophy that some feel is a modern day idea. It’s referred to as Self-Autonomy or Self-Rule. Meaning that the control of an individual’s actions and decisions stems from within the individual. And is based on personal desires, feelings, or societal influences. When they feel it’s necessary, they will put up boundaries to protect those freedoms. Such as cutting off communication with those they are in conflict with.

But guess what, it isn’t new at all. It wasn’t referred to as self-autonomy though. In Judges:17, 18, and 21 , we have the description of the Jewish people during the time of the Judges. Before their first king was chosen, the Jewish people were ruled by several judges. It was a period of moral confusion and disharmony due to the fact that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Sound familiar?

Anyone searching for words to describe society today would certainly admit that we are in a state of moral confusion and disharmony. For you see, the same source that fueled human reasoning and false assumptions in the day of the Judges, hasn’t changed his game plan. And as long as people look within themselves to determine right from wrong confusion and disharmony will continue to build.

I think that those who are most affected by this ancient philosophy are today’s emerging adults. Considered adults only by their age they lack the wisdom that comes with time and experience. Some don’t feel the necessity of being accountable to God, their parents, or older and wiser adults. What they fail to realize is that relying on human wisdom alone without divine revelation leads to no good end. We are warned of this in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is the way of death.”

Therefore, I encourage young adults to examine the end result of such self-rule decisions. What are the consequences of neglecting God’s rule over self-rule? Can you really define right and wrong apart from God? Research societies that have replaced God’s rule with self-rule. What happened to them? Why do they desire to rule themselves? Whose voice are they listening to? What are the end results of your present choices?

When you arrive at the age of an adult, don’t make assumptions that alone qualifies you as ‘being’ an adult. Recognize this for the lie, fiery dart, that it is. The enemy will beguile you with all sorts of lies. And he will dress them up to make them enticing and believable. He will convince you to achieve your freedom at any cost. Even if you have to lie to or dishonor the older adults in your life.

Those who avail themselves of God’s truth can avoid the enemy’s deception. Remember that and be forewarned.