"...Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption,
the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law,
the service of God, and the promises;
of whom are the fathers and from whom,
according to the flesh, Christ came,
who is over all, the eternally blessed God."
Romans 9:4-5
Christ, the eternally blessed GOD...
Satan constantly attacks all things pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, Satan has raised up many false religions and all of them in one way or another will deny Jesus, who he is, his virgin birth, his deity (meaning that he is God) and on it goes.
Satan's supreme goal is to prevent people from worshiping Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth.
"But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the TRUE worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for the Father is seeking such to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and TRUTH.”
John 4:23-24
The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Some passages are obvious, others are buried in the text. An example of this is in the passage above in Romans. "Christ came ...the eternally blessed God." Therefore, Christ is God. If one reads over this passage quickly, he may not notice this eternal truth.
This is why we must not read the Word of God hurriedly just to get through it, just to say we read it. You won't glean eternal truths by going over it quickly just to get it done. No, every word, every phrase must be carefully considered. This is why I do not follow the "read the Bible in a year" program. To read it in a year requires long passages each day, and to me that becomes a chore. No, I read a shorter portion each day, perhaps one chapter, so that I can look forward to it and meditate on it.
The Lord tells us to meditate in his word in all situations in life. When you're just sitting in your house, meditate on a passage from your morning reading, go over it again and again. Let God's Word come to you while you're out walking, when you're lying in bed, and the first thing when you get up. Meditate on it when you're driving in your car.
"And these words which I command you today
shall be IN YOUR HEART.
You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up."
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
When I read the Word of God I read it out loud so that I'm reading it, speaking it, and hearing it, saturating all my senses with it. Slowly. Deliberately.
Friends, handling the Word of God in all reverence will make all the difference in the world to your growth. The word "meditate" means to chew on. The point is that we are to let the Word of God become part of us. Don't consider it a chore, because once you begin doing this from the heart and seeing the response from God, you'll wonder why you neglected it in the past. God will speak to you through his Word. When I ask the Lord a question, he often answers with a Scripture and it enlightens everything having to do with the question. It's so wonderful, so awesome, so GOOD.
Make God's Word a priority in your life, and it will change everything. Most importantly, it will change YOU.
"Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder
against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked letters from him
to the synagogues of Damascus,
so that if he found any who were of the Way,
whether men or women,
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."
Acts 9:1-2
Saul, later known as the apostle Paul, was a high-ranking member of the Jewish religious body. He was avid in his love for Judaism, and a staunch defender of it against anyone bringing in any kind of deception or opposition. He searched out the followers of Christ and put them in prison. It was in the process of doing this very thing that he had an encounter with Jesus Christ. He was traveling to Damascus when:
vs 3-5:
"As he journeyed he came near Damascus,
and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?'
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting...'”
Don't just read those words. Get into the moment. Think of the emotional shock Paul experienced while being so dramatically encountered by the very one he hated. Imagine his astonishment. He must have sat there dazed as he tried to make sense of what was happening. In his wildest dreams he would never have imagined something like this. He was a proud Jewish leader, and here he was being thrown to the ground by the very one whose name he was trying to destroy. When he got control of himself, he asked:
vs 6:
"So he, trembling and astonished, said,
'Lord, what do you want me to do?'"
This story is precious to me because I had a similar, though not so dramatic, event take place wherein I very suddenly came to see that what I believed from my youth was NOT the truth. And I had a similar response. It was so shocking that I reeled from it for three days until I could get hold of myself. And then I asked the same question, "Well then, what IS the truth, and who ARE you Lord?"
People believe what they believe oftentimes because that's what they were taught from their youth. I was taught what I was taught from my youth, and everyone in my life believed the same, all family, friends, teachers, everyone in my life. Like Paul, I was totally sincere in my beliefs. And like Paul, I had an encounter with the Lord that absolutely stunned me as he showed me that what I believed was deception, that most of it just wasn't true, and a lot of it was outright heresy.
My question to you this day is this:
If the truth is something other than what you believe - would you want to stay as you are, or would you want to know the truth?
It's one of the hardest questions that can be asked. Don't answer quickly before evaluating what knowing the truth might cost you. It could cost you alienation from family and friends. But it's a question every sincere person has to consider in his/her lifetime, otherwise his foundation just might be a foundation of sand.
(Luke 6:47-49).
Meditate on this until you "get it." It's serious, it's the most important question you will ever ask. “Who are you, Lord?”
Ask the Lord to show you the truth, being willing to accept it if it is not what you've believed all your life.
You'll forever rejoice that you did.
"...there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live." 1st Corinthians 8:6 The politically correct thing to say today is that all roads lead to God. Even the pope is chanting this mantra, telling even atheists that they can be saved as long as they are good people. This is heresy. There is only one God. Allah is not God. Buddha is not God. The Hindu gods are not gods. Their writings are not from God. They did not come to die for us, and they teach works and "goodness" for salvation. One thing the Word of God makes very clear is that no one is saved by "being good," because no one can be good ENOUGH. The thing these false religions miss is the sin principle, and sin is the elephant in the room. Sin MUST be dealt with. No one can enter heaven with the guilt of sin upon him. It doesn't matter how good the person is or what good works he has done, that will not address the sin that is there, and that sin MUST be dealt with. When a man is before a judge for murder, the judge does not care about any good the man may have done, the issue is the murder and nothing is going to change the focus from the murder. When a man stands before the Judge of the universe, his sin will be the issue because it is that elephant in the room. You can't go forward until the sin issue is dealt with, and for most, it will prevent them from entering heaven. That's why Jesus said that the way is "narrow," and that few find it (Matthew 7:14). People want to focus on their goodness, but few are willing to look at their sin. And ...there is only ONE way to deal with sin. God, in his love for mankind, took pity on the fallen human race. He knew that every human being is born a sinner, and that means that every human being is condemned, or as the Scripture says, is "condemned already" upon coming into the world (John 3:18). But God so loved the world, that he sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to take upon himself the judgment due on the sins of anyone who would receive his work of atonement on their behalf. Jesus hung bloodied and dying on that Cross, taking my judgment upon himself so that the sin issue might be settled. My sin, your sin, has been judged. In him. The price, the penalty, has been paid, by him. When one receives Christ's atonement for himself and surrenders his life to Christ, Jesus creates a new life inside that person in what Jesus called being "born again." The person born in spiritual death is reborn with spiritual life. The person is brought out of the dominion of Satan and becomes the son or daughter of God, with all the privileges inherent in that, and there are many. Jesus Christ is the only one who has given his life for us, the founders and gods of other religions did not, could not, die in atonement for our sins. One of the greatest plots of Satan is to replace the born-again experience with religion. Religion cannot save a person, Jesus said one "MUST be born again (John 3:6-7)." The principles of religion are rooted in the lies of Satan and they lead the multitudes to hell because they are unable to deal with the sin issue - so they deny it and persuade people to just focus on being as good as they can. And so, people march right into hell, their sins having never been dealt with. One person said she can't imagine good people going to hell, that God wouldn't do that. Good people have to recognize their fallen state. When one truly recognizes his fallen state he will recognize his need for a Savior. Because mankind is born fallen, it necessitates being born again, otherwise, there is no remedy for his sin. Imagine the world in the days of Noah. He spent many years telling the people, warning the people. Certainly there were good people who heard him. But ...they all perished. The entire generation perished with the exception of Noah and his family. All the "good" people among them disregarded the ark, and they all perished. If you can possibly imagine the greatness of what Jesus Christ has done for you, it should be your deep and ultimate joy to surrender your life to him. He created you. He knows you intimately. He fashioned your DNA. And he loves you so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself ...so that you could be saved. That's only the beginning of the story, but you cannot go further until you have stopped at this place and settled this with him. Give him your life, your self, he is all about love. He has a plan for your life, allow him to work it out in you. It is designed to bring you all the joy and fulfillment a human being can experience, because it is designed specifically and uniquely for you. Become his today! You will rejoice for all eternity. "Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free; for God the just is satisfied TO LOOK ON HIM AND PARDON ME."