Take the helmut of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
— Ephesians 6:17
Undoubtedly God goes along with us as far as He can in this weak and one-sided treatment of the Holy Scriptures, but He cannot be pleased with this way of doing. Our Heavenly Father takes pleasure in seeing us develop and grow up spiritually. He does not want us to live entirely on a diet of sweet stuff. He gives us for our encouragement Isaiah 41, but He gives us also Matthew 23 and the book of Jude, and He expects us to read it all. The eighth chapter of Romans is one of the most elevating passages in the entire Bible, and its popularity is well deserved; but we need Second Peter as well, and we should not neglect to read it.
When reading Paul's epistles, we should not stop with the doctrinal sections but should go on to read and ponder the bracing exhortations that follow. We should not stop with Romans 11; the rest of the epistle is also important, and if we would treat our souls fairly, we must give it the same attention we gave to the first ten chapters. Briefly, the health of our souls requires that we take the whole Bible as it stands and let it do its work in us. We cannot afford to be selective with anything so important as the Word of God and our own eternal future.
thought
We are engaged in warfare with unseen powers for which God has equipped us with armor. The major offensive piece is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We desparately require the whole sword and not just a piece of it!
prayer
Thank You, Lord, that I have in a language I understand the whole Bible. What a treasure! May I fully explore and utilize all of it.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
— Hebrews 4:12
Almost every cult with which we have any acquaintance practices this art of selecting and ignoring. The no-hell cults, for example, habitually stress everything in the Bible that seems to support their position and play down or explain away all the passages that deal with eternal punishment. But we do well to look closer to home. Proneness to heresy is not confined to the cults. By nature, we are all heretics. We who count ourselves to be in the historic tradition of sound doctrine may in actual practice become heretics after a sort. We may unconsciously select for special attention such Scriptures as comfort and encourage us and pass over the ones that rebuke and warn us.
This trap is so easy to fall into that we may be in it before we are aware. Take, for instance, the "well-marked" Bible. It might be an illuminating experience to peep into one sometimes and note how the owner has underscored almost exclusively the passages that console him or that support his views on doctrine. We habitually love the verses that are easy on us and shy away from the ones that disturb us.
thought
Do you find yourself at times ignoring or diluting certain passages of Scripture that penetrate your defenses and stare you in the face? God's Word sometimes wounds deeply. But exposure to all the Word is imperative because through it He speaks.
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for chasing me when I try to flee from those sections of Your Word that expose and condemn my sin. Speak, Lord, even when I try not to listen.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
— Second Timothy 3:16-17
Heresy is not so much rejecting as selecting. The heretic simply selects the parts of the Scripture he wants to emphasize and lets the rest go. This is shown by the etymology of the word heresy and by the practice of the heretic. "Beware," an editorial scribe of the fourteenth century warned his readers in the preface to a book. "Beware thou take not one thing after thy affection and liking, and leave another: for that is the condition of an heretique. But take everything with other." The old scribe knew well how prone we are to take to ourselves those parts of the truth that please us and ignore the other parts. And that is heresy. Almost every cult with which we have any acquaintance practices this art of selecting and ignoring. The no-hell cults, for example, habitually stress everything in the Bible that seems to support their position and play down or explain away all the passages that deal with eternal punishment.
thought
All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training. To be selective is to cripple ourselves spiritually.
prayer
Father, through Your Word You rebuke, correct, encourage and teach. Thank You. I need it all!
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity . . .
— Hebrews 6:1a
The absence of spiritual devotion today is an omen and a portent. The modern church is all but contemptuous of the sober virtues ? meekness, modesty, humility, quietness, obedience, self-effacement, patience. To be accepted now, religion must be in the popular mood. Consequently, much religious activity reeks with pride, display, self-assertion, self-promotion, love of gain and devotion to trivial pleasures. It behooves us to take all this seriously. Time is running out for all of us. What is done must be done quickly. We have no right to lie idly by and let things take their course.
A farmer who neglects his farm will soon lose it; a shepherd who fails to look after his flock will find the wolves looking after it for him. A misbegotten charity that allows the wolves to destroy the flock is not charity at all but indifference, rather, and should be known for what it is and dealt with accordingly. It is time for Bible-believing Christians to begin to cultivate the sober graces and to live among men like sons of God and heirs of the ages. And this will take more than a bit of doing, for the whole world and a large part of the church is set to prevent it. But if God be for us, who can be against us?
thought
Over the years have there been those believers who have provided for you an example of quiet, Christlike living even in the most adverse circumstances? Thank God for those who show the rest of us daily living characterized by the sober virtues.
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for those who have modeled Christlike living to me. They have demonstrated that I, too, may grow and grow and grow. . . .
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
— Galatians 6:1
It is more than probable that in the whole history of the United States there was never at any one time so much religious activity as there is today. And it is also very likely that there was never less true spirituality. . . . Now, experience has prepared us for the rebuttal we will surely hear from tender-minded friends: "Who are we to judge? We must leave these professed Christians with the Lord and look to our own doorstep. And furthermore, we should be glad for any little bit of good that is being done and not spoil it by faultfinding." All that sounds good, but it is an expression of a religious laissez faire which would stand carelessly by and permit the whole church of Christ to degenerate morally and spiritually without daring to raise a hand to help or a voice to warn. So did not the prophets.
So did not Christ, or His apostles, or the Reformers; and so will not any man do who has seen heaven opened and beheld visions of God. Elijah could have kept his mouth shut and saved himself a lot of trouble. John the Baptist could have kept silent and saved his head; and every martyr might have pleaded laissez faire and died comfortably in his bed at a ripe old age. But in doing so, they would all have disobeyed God and laid themselves open to a severe judgment in the day of Christ.
thought
Some of us are reluctant to admonish others because of questionable areas in our own living. But there is a spiritual responsibility to gently seek the restoration of those who fall into sin.
prayer
Father, make me a gentle restorer of younger believers who stumble and fall. May my daily living provide credentials for such ministry.
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly ? mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
— 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
For some reason, religious activity and godliness do not always go together. To discover this, it is only necessary to observe the current religious scene. There is no lack of soul-winning effort surely, but many of the soul-winners give one the impression that they are little more than salesmen for a brand of Christianity that simply does not lead to saintliness. If this should strike you as being uncharitable, make this little test: kneel down and read reverently the Sermon on the Mount. Let it get hold of your heart. Catch the spiritual "feeling" of it. Try to conceive what kind of person he or she would be who would embody its teachings.
Then compare your conception with the product of the modern religious mill. You will find a wide world of difference both in conduct and in spirit. If the Sermon on the Mount is a fair description of the sort of person a Christian ought to be, then what are we to conclude about the multitudes who have "accepted" Christ but nevertheless exhibit not one moral or spiritual trait such as those described by our Lord? Now, experience has prepared us for the rebuttal we will surely hear from tender-minded friends: "Who are we to judge? We must leave these professed Christians with the Lord and look to our own doorstep. And furthermore, we should be glad for any little bit of good that is being done and not spoil it by faultfinding."
thought
Though years from our spiritual birth, must we still be pablum-fed? Jealousy, quarreling and divisions are sure signs of spiritual immaturity. It is time to switch to a solid food diet.
prayer
Lord, I thank You that I am Your child. But despite the years that I have known You there are still areas of life where I am childish. Oh, may I grow!
He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.'
— Matthew 26:42
In a world like ours, courage is an indispensable virtue. The coward may snivel in his corner, but the brave man takes the prize. And in the kingdom of God, courage is as necessary as it is in the world. The timid soul is as pitiable on his knees as he is in society. When entering the prayer chamber, we must come filled with faith and armed with courage. Nowhere else in the whole field of religious thought and activity is courage so necessary as in prayer. The successful prayer must be one without condition. We must believe that God is love and that, being love, He cannot harm us but must ever do us good. Then we must throw ourselves before Him and pray with boldness for whatever we know our good and His glory require, and the cost is no object! Whatever He in His love and wisdom would assess against us, we will accept with delight because it pleased Him. Prayers like that cannot go unanswered. The character and reputation of God guarantee their fulfillment. We should always keep in mind the infinite lovingkindness of God. No one need fear to put his life in His hands. His yoke is easy; His burden is light.
thought
With courage we may pray without condition because of who God is and His love for us. We may receive whatever answer He gives, confident that He desires our highest good.
prayer
My times are in Your hand, Father, whether "pleasing or painful, dark or bright as best may seem to Thee."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.'
— Matthew 26:39
Juliana of Norwich at the beginning of her wonderful Christian life addressed a prayer to her Savior and then added the wise words, "And this I ask without any condition." It was that last sentence that gave power to the rest of her prayer and brought the answer in mighty poured-out floods as the years went by. God could answer her prayer because He did not need to mince matters with her. She did not hedge her prayers around with disclaimers and provisos. She wanted certain things from God at any cost. God, as it were, had only to send her the bill. She would pay any price to get what she conceived to be good for her soul and glorifying to her Heavenly Father.
That is real praying. Many of us spoil our prayers by being too "dainty" with the Lord (as some old writer called it). We ask with the tacit understanding that the cost must be reasonable. After all, there is a limit to everything, and we do not want to be fanatical! We want the answer to be something added, not something taken away. We want nothing radical or out of the ordinary, and we want God to accommodate us at our convenience. Thus we attach a rider to every prayer, making it impossible for God to answer it.
thought
Dare we pray to God without attaching conditions? Conditionless praying trusting ourselves to His will, placing ourselves in His hands.
prayer
Teach me to pray, Lord, to pray without conditions trusting You.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
— Psalm 119:105
Among men, questions usually have more than one side; sometimes they have many. Pros and cons are often balanced so finely against each other that it is virtually impossible to know where the right lies. But with God there is only one side. God's side is good and holy and all other sides are wrong, the degree and seriousness of the wrong increasing as we move away from the center of God's will. Our desire for moral self-preservation should dictate that we come over immediately onto God's side and stay there even if (as is likely) it may result in our being out of accord with man's philosophies and man's moral codes.
We cannot win when we work against God, and we cannot lose when we work with Him. Now, how can we know for certain which side is God's side? No one in this late day should need to ask that question, but since it is being asked in all sincerity by many, we are glad to give the answer. There is a Book which says of itself, "And God spoke all these words," and about which it is said, "Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up to glory" (1 Timothy 3:16). Acquaintance with this Book will bring light to all dark paths and show us the right side of all questions. Of course, that Book is the Bible. What glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun! It gives a light to every age; It gives, but borrows none.
thought
God speaks to us through the Written Word. Contained in it are life principles to recognize and apply in our life situations. His Word reveals who He is and who we are in Him.
prayer
Spirit of God, open my heart eyes to see the light of Your Word and daily walk in that light in this world of darkness.