Truth - Faith Walk Part 2

"All great truth goes through these phases. First it is ridiculed, then violently attacked, and finally accepted as self-evident." -- Schopenhauer

I was doing a Bible study with a group of ladies that had some particularly difficult thoughts to swallow. Were they difficult because they were Truth that we didn't want to hear, or were they difficult because they were a distortion of God's Truth and didn't set well? So here is my question for Believers to ponder.

If you believe the Bible when it says that Mary had a virgin birth and your God became a man -- which, on the face of it, is a pretty outlandish and outrageous and courageous thing to believe, then why don't you believe that God should be in control of your body (not you) and number how many children you have, if that's what the Bible says? Ah, and there's the real question. WHAT DOES the Bible SAY?

Jesus spoke in parables because He knew that people hear through their own "filters" of experience, emotions, beliefs, etc. With a parable He knew that His words spoke to each person directly where he or she was/is at. But then, Christ ALWAYS spoke TRUTH. It's the PORTION of Truth that we are ready to hear that we receive at any given time.

A lot of the Bible is that way. But parts of the Bible are crystal clear. and leave no room for interpretation. So the real question is do you KNOW what the Bible says? Not what some author interprets. Not what some pastor preaches. Not what some Bible study leader teaches. Not what your friend tells you. The Bible speaks intimately the Truth of God to each one of you. Do you go directly to it when you have a question on what is "right living?"

The Holy Spirit will convict you of Truth. My only warning is be wary of reading the Bible so much through your personal filter that you "hear" what you want to hear. Even in Apostle Paul's day, he had to admonish believers to take out the sword of Truth and cut off worldly thinking. He knew that as creatures of the world, we want it our way and bristle when Truth gets in the way or feels uncomfortable.

So maybe God did say He has the right to number our children. But maybe He does so by offering different options for each of us that are according to His gracious gifting and divine plan for us. We have to be plugged into God and His Word to know His Truth.

I'm with you, dear sisters in Christ. I, too, struggle with some of the things I read in the Bible or am taught about the Bible. That's because I'm a believer, as you are, caught up in a fleshly body living in a fallen world. May our Lord God bless us all with His Truth in ways that we are prepared to hear, and may we walk in yielding obedience to His will.

a month of giving

I yielded to a driver at an intersection today. By all rights, it was my turn, but instead of insisting on my "rights," I decided to graciously give the other driver the right of way. It was the right thing to do during a month of giving. I actually felt okay with it instead of my usual the-guy-doesn't-know-how-to-drive self-righteousness. Kindness regardless of circumstances ~ I'm going to try to do more of that.