My Authority, God’s Word

God’s Word is not just a book we pick up from time to time to read a few passages to get us through. It is and should be the ultimate authority in our life. We should be looking to and living out the instructions found in God’s Word in all situations.

It is easy to pick and choose different passages when we “need” them or to “justify” some action that we have taken or are considering. But, if we are cherry picking passages we are not really obeying God’s Word as the authority it is. We are simply using God’s Word and not living it.

God’s Word is more than a collection of actions we can take to relieve some ailing we have. It is not just a collection of positive reinforcement actions to keep us moving in the right direction. God’s Word is a way of going through life at all times.

I am over 50 years old and see the value of God’s Word for my daily life. I study or am led in God’s Word seven days a week. I look for how His Word can lead me in life. I look for how I can apply His teachings daily. I know that God’s Word can do all things in my life. His Word accomplished all things and will accomplish all things. By full faith in His Word there is nothing that cannot be done.

“⁸But the centurion replied, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.’” – Matthew 8:8 (ESV)

The centurion from the passage above knew that Jesus only need to speak healing to happen. He knew that Jesus was the authority and that as God, His Word would do as spoken. The centurion understood the authority that was God’s Word.

“¹²For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

I have to have the faith that God’s Word will do all things. It is not just there for me to pick up when “needed”. God’s Word should be in my bones and leading my every move. I have to lean on the authority of God’s Word to point me and guide me and lead me and protect me as I move along in this world.

What is your relationship to God’s Word? Are you using it to pick and choose how it can help you? What if you were to lean on God’s Word for all things and used it as your authority to point you, guide you, lead you, and protect you as you go along?

Who You Gonna Serve

“²⁴No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

This morning as I continued my study into choices, I was reminded that we have to choose to serve somebody. At this I was reminded of the verse above that we cannot serve God and money. That we cannot have two masters in our lives. Where money and the challenges it poses was not the focus of my study this morning, it is certainly one of those things that vies for our attention and service.

Where we are giving our attention is where our service lies. Is it a work and our devotion to that work. Are we spending so much time there that it is keeping us from other things in our lives. Is it in an idol or group that steals us away from other places in our life. Is it in an individual that consumes our being so much that no other person even really exists in our lives. Or, is it in ourselves, where we are more focused on getting ours that the rest seems to go by the wayside.

Either of these will certainly take up our attention and drive us away from the others. But what if we were to chose the one to serve that ultimately leads us back to all of the others that we may be separated from. Jesus and God’s Word is the one authority we serve that leads us back to all others. Our service to God not only gives us purpose each day, but that purpose is in assisting others achieve what God has for them as well.

We should be choosing God. Oh, don’t get me wrong, however we come to know God is great, it is the choosing Him that gets us where we should be. But, when we choose Him, we are making the conscious decision to serve Him. Sometimes I believe that sometimes, people “come” to God, selfishly looking for the next thing in their list of accomplishments. It was a choice of convenience to get something and then the choice is abandoned for the next thing on the list. There is a lack of service to the LORD and a looking for something from the LORD instead.

You cannot give your attention to more than one. Even by not “choosing” where to put your service is a choice in and of itself. By not choosing, you have chosen ambiguity and chaos. You have nowhere to put your trust and devotion. You have chosen to drift and where drifting may be okay in the moment, ultimately it leads you nowhere, at least nowhere of any real consequence to you. You are simply living for yourself and the momentary “happiness” that fades when the moment is gone.

Stumbling or expecting to drift into the LORD is not the way. Make the conscious choice to serve Him. As noted in the Matthew 6:24 above, you can only love and be devoted to one master. When we choose to serve the LORD, He gives back to us the lasting joy that cannot be found in things of this world. By choosing the LORD and serving Him, we are rewarded with that which we need and blessings that we don’t deserve based on the sin we commit and the sinner we are.

Who do you choose to serve? Are you looking to serve yourself or something else to get that momentary “happiness”? What if you were to choose lasting joy and the only one you can serve to provide it, our LORD Jesus Christ?

Be Aware and Test

“¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” — 1 John 4:1 (ESV)

Trust is important. I have to be trusting that those in positions of authority are acting in the best interest. I have plenty of people in my life that are in those positions and well let’s just say that I am a bit skeptical at times as to their motives and actions. As I read this morning, it is not a bad thing to have those questions. The thing is, I have to take action and test to know for sure and settle things instead of simply having the questions.

John points out here that there are those in the world that are not from God. It is known and it is important to be aware. I have to look out for those false prophets and test whether they are from God or of the world. I have to keep my awareness front of mind and look out for the distractions that can come from what is offered, and question for myself just where they are coming from and listen for their answers and motives.

“²By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” — 1 John 4:2-3 (ESV)

Those that are not from God are not going to offer up that they are from God. They will need to be tested and you can see that John lays out the test in verses two and three above. We have to ask them. And if the are indeed from God, they will confess of Jesus Christ and His coming to the world. This is not something that will be stated, it will have to be asked for. I have to be diligent in my testing of those around me to ensure that they are indeed from God and not just making things look good.

There is a certain level of trust that has to be. I have to act, in the beginning, as those in authority are here to lead me in the right direction and down the right path to the completion of the work God has for me. Without that initial trust, I will find myself frozen in ambiguity and will not be able to fully act at all. I do have to be aware of signs that things are not as they seem and when they are presented, I have to question/test those in authority to understand just where they come from and what their ultimate motives happen to be. It is in the answers to those questions/tests that I am able to have the confidence in working with them to the advancement of the work of God.

When have you wondered about those in authority around you? Are you blindly working for them fully trusting they are who they appear to be? What if you were to trust initially and then be aware enough to question/test them to determine if they are indeed from God and have His work in mind?