Thursday, June 09, 2011

Take Him at His Word - June 9, 2011

Good Thursday morning! I think that I am losing contact with reality. A pair of scissors arrived in the mail yesterday that stated "Perfect for Fabric!" on the package. Isn't that like saying a scalpel is perfect for flesh or an ax is perfect for a tree? I would think the fabric might have another opinion on that statement. Wouldn't the perfect tool for a material heal rather than cut? Of course we are inundated by ad copy every day. Ad copy is the polite term for deception, falsehood, misleading, or just outright lying. Sounds like what we expect from crooks. Yet these people hold regular jobs that pay well (in some cases). Sounds too good to be true.

In this world we often go by what 'sounds good'. Our teachers back in the day tried to get us to memorize the rules of grammar so that we didn't go by what sounded right to us. Many of the ways and means of this world will sound good to our flesh but go directly against a commandment of God. A popular statement a few years ago went: If it feels good, do it. Following a mantra like that will lead you to sin faster than the old 'sounds good' method. Many of the urges our flesh tells us will feel good are addressed in a negative way in the Ten Commandments. We know from our Christian learning that sounds good and feels good are not the way to discern whether we should do something or not. Yet, we look at our salvation, searching for that moment, looking for that felt really good moment, trying to recall the sound of heavenly trumpets announcing our salvation maybe, and we should know better.

A nice blast of the heavenly trumpets, for those with an ear to hear let him hear, would be nice for assurance. We could all stand around dear old George and wonder while he prayed for salvation. The heavenly trumpets sound - ta-da-da-daaaah! - and we know beyond a doubt that George McGillicuddy is now a member of the saved; praise God! Like most of the idle wishes we have, that leaves no room for faith. If you walk into a wall, you know the wall is there and that it didn't move when you walked into it. The smarting of your nose and other body parts tells you that the wall is quite real and solid; no faith is required. If you then deny the wall's existence, you are placed in the loony bin for safekeeping. Your salvation is not a wall that you meet with your nose, but a condition that Jesus works on you. You can pray and invite the Holy Spirit into your heart, but you cannot reach out and grab the Spirit and stuff him inside your shirt next to your heart, or at least that blood-pumping organ we call a heart.

If the arrival of the Spirit in your life didn't bring a fanfare from Heaven that we could hear, not to worry. Jesus doesn't need our hearing and feeling in order to work a mighty salvation on each of us when we believe in Him. You may have felt a burden removed at salvation. Another may have felt a compulsion that had ruled his life removed forever at salvation. Someone else may have felt not much different, but that doesn't mean that he or she is any less saved. We cannot judge our salvation by our feelings. Does that mean we are to use our own understanding or intellect then? No, certainly not; use the Bible. Read God's word on salvation. Believe in Christ and take him at his Word.

Have a wonderful new day!

Bucky

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