Stewart, what is exciting is that God has a plan for each of us and has placed it in the Bible for us to read and understand.
- Why don’t we know more?
- Why don't we know what we believe?
You will see in the following survey by the Christian Post; that those in the survey don't know the truth about salvation. How could they if 72 percent think that there are many ways to Heaven. Maybe we are too well off. Maybe there are too many things that take up our time, TV, Movies, Shopping and Places to Travel. The Nation of Israel always had a problem with their relationship with God and suffered when they had wealth and prosperity.
One of the biggest problems we face is not spending enough time reading the Bible. It seems that we allow others to give us their understanding. What is that old saying? “If you don't use it, you will lose it". Since we don’t spend the time to understand we are left in the hands of others to teach us. Some may not be teachers. Do these people actually study or do they get there material from prepared sermons or other books . We need people who hear from God. We then need to prove what we hear and study the bible.
Today Christians don't seem to want to spend the time to study to find the truth. Reading is not studying. We might get a warm fussy feeling, but do we understand what we have read. We need to know God's will. We can change things by setting aside time each day to study. We can change the next survey from a negative one to a positive one. The lack of understanding is why so many Christians think there are many ways to be saved. Read this survey.
Here is a survey by the Christianity Post:
Many Americans Say that accepting Jesus as their savior is Not the Only Way to heaven.
Most American Christians believe many religions can lead to eternal life and among them, the vast majority says you don't even have to be Christian to go to heaven, a new survey shows. Sixty-five percent of all Christians say there are multiple paths to eternal life, ultimately rejecting the exclusivity of Christ teaching, according to the latest survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Even among white evangelical Protestants, 72 percent of those who say many religions can lead to eternal life name at least one non-Christian religion, such as Judaism or Islam or no religion at all, that can lead to salvation. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary called the survey results "a theological crisis for American evangelicals," according to USA Today.
Why is this, because believers do not want to study? We can understand because we have the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the Dead. We need to trust Jesus in order to understand the words he wrote through people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Look at this verse and consider it as a promise to you and me.
John 14:25-26 (GW) 25 “I have told you this while I'm still with you. 26 However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.
Here is an article I came across that sums up my point.
Please read and think about how much time you put into your relationship with God.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
By Cornelius R. Stam
"This was the question Philip asked of the Ethiopian prince as he sat reading from Isaiah's prophecy,Acts 8:30 (NKJV) 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" and it is a question which we should continually keep asking ourselves as we read the Holy Scriptures.
There are always those among God's people who do not much care whether or not they understand what they read if only it warms their hearts! To them the Bible is little more than a fetish. Taking only those Scriptures which appeal to them, and leaving the rest, they actually feel themselves quite spiritual and often talk about believing the Bible whether or not they understand it!
But such "spirituality" is far from genuine, and such "faith" is blind and superstitious at best. While it is true that the Bible teaches many truths which we believe, although they are beyond our comprehension (such as its opening verse!), yet how can we believe what the Bible says unless we understand what it says? God would have us understand what we read and believe it intelligently.
Indeed, true faith will want to know and understand more and more of God's Word. One who does not care whether or not he understands what God has said is not truly interested in knowing what God has said. His faith is based on his own will rather than on God's Word, for regardless of the meaning of Scripture, he will take any passage that suits his fancy and use it as he wishes. How great an emphasis God Himself places upon the importance of understanding His Word!
On one occasion, when our Lord saw the multitudes, He "was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things
Mark 6:34 (NKJV) "And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. . And now that the secret of God's "eternal purpose" has been made known, how much more reason there is to study the Scriptures, with a view to understanding them! How Paul, by the Spirit, emphasizes this, as he writes of his prayers for the saints"
Eph. 1:17,18 (NKJV) "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling..." .
What a verse … what a promise. Can you see what Paul is telling us? I hope so, because we can change the world, one by one. Recommit yourself to finding the truth and sharing it with others . You can go to our website to find articles on a variety subjects.
No comments:
Post a Comment