If you follow this blog at all, you will wonder why this humble
servant of the Lord even addresses this question. My response:
Since the Bible, Scripture, Holy Writ, or however you refer to the
Word of God is beyond my ability to explain or plumb; Thoughts
from Scripture are for our instruction, not for one who has belief
he has comprehended the whole and is now a teacher of the Law
of God. We use a limited depth of wisdom, knowledge and our
limited Spiritual maturity to offer insight into that we "glean"
from the Word. I welcome questions, suggestions and outright,
thoughtful disagreement with my comments.
I wrote all of the above to say; the Word of God is plain, not
simple. There are things, even on the surface, that try our under-
standing and depth, but more than that, the "surface" remarks in
Scripture are still Divinely inspired of the living God and capa-
ble of challenging our shabby lives to the core. The things under-
stood, properly there, can shake us when we realize how far we
fall short of the Word, the Lord God and His Glory. We are dri-
ven to our knees in repentance of; poorly thought out goals for
life, our inability to keep any part of the Word circumspectly and
how far short we come in even carrying out our goals, not to
mention how far we fall short of "His" plan for our lives and the
"Glory of God;" we can only aspire to achieve. "As it is written,
'There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that under-
standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone
out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is
none that doeth good, no, not one." (Romans 3: 10-12) "For all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus." (Romans 10: 23) This statement from the Word of God
does not show us to be very deep or worthy of anything from our
Lord. There is, however; the opportunity for one to grow in his
understanding of Scripture and get wisdom unavailable to those
who remain on the surface, failing to gain further wisdom that is
available in God's Word. You must be a serious seeker of such
wisdom and spend time in the Word and in prayer to the Lord in
the name of the Son. I still have a long way to go...
The initial move toward Spiritual maturity is the fullness of
the Holy Spirit in one's life. You may question; Just how is this
fullness of the Spirit accessed? I am convinced for one to be
filled with the Spirit and begin the quest for a Spirit filled life
there are some facts concerning the Christ life he must believe
and practice. (The "he" is not gender specific)
(1.) "That ye put off concerning the former conversation, (beha-
vior) the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts;
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on
the new man, which after God, is created in righteousness and
true holiness." Ephesians 4: 22-24. As you continue to read
from the chapter you find "put away lying, Be angry and sin
not, Let him that stole, steal no more; but rather let him
labour, working with his hands the thing that is good.... Let
no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth...eidfi-
cation and grace."
"Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
Read the entire chapters 4 thru 6 of Ephesians and you find a
picture of what may be accomplished through a Spirit filled
walk with our Lord. As you read the first three chapters of
Ephesians, you find the heritage of one who is in Christ and a
testimony as to what the Lord does in your life as you begin to
trust Him to the point of submission of life in all things. With
this knowledge you are ready to be filled of the Spirit of God
by simply confessing known sin in your life and asking God in
prayer to fill you with his Spirit. He has promised this, and
the gifts that accompany the Spirit of God in our lives. One of
the places this is recorded is Romans 12. This passage also
gives instruction on our attitude, or spirit, as we properly use
these gifts through the power; the Spirit of God in us. Though
it is unwise to condense God's Word, we learn much from the
exercise of reading a passage, then pointing out, (gleaning)
verses that inspire us. "I BESEECH you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sac-
rifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye trans-
formed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what
is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Romans 12: 1-2
Read the complete chapter for an understanding of how to
live a rewarding life, well pleasing to the Savior.
donporter,sr 9.04.17, edited 9.11.17
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