"I rejoice at your Word
as one who finds great treasure."
Psalm 119:162
The Word of God is the greatest treasure given us, and when one becomes familiar with it, he comes to realize that he has found the treasure that will be the very foundation for the rest of his life.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field,
which a man found and hid,
and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has
and buys that field."
Matthew 13:44
It is in the Word of God that one finds peace. The peace of God is not the kind of peace that one finds in the world. Most would define peace as the lack of conflict. That's the peace found in the world. But Jesus said that HIS peace is different from anything a person will get from the world. One has to experience it to understand it. It doesn't depend on the presence or absence of conflict, it is a unique peace that transcends all.
" Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you,
NOT as the world gives do I give to you."
John 14:27
It's the peace a person has who is filled with the Word of God.
"Great peace have those who love your law,
and nothing causes them to stumble."
Psalm 119:165
The word "law" is the Hebrew "torah," which is literally translated "teaching." The Word of God contains all the teaching God has provided for us, and if a person were to realize and understand this, he'd be joyfully willing therefore to sell all he has so he can buy the whole field, that's how valuable a treasure the Word of God is. Its worth exceeds all that any man has. The wise understand this and count the Word of God as the most valuable treasure a person can have in life.
The wicked do not keep God in their hearts or in their thoughts, and they place no value on his Word at all. When the Bible says “the wicked,” it doesn’t always mean thieves and murderers. The wicked are those who have no interest in God our creator or in his Word. They might be very "nice" people, but they go through their lives considering the Word of God "foolishness," and they proceed blindly to destruction.
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him..."
1st Corinthians 2:14
But the believer remains aware that all that he is, all that he thinks, all that he does, all of his ways - are known to God, and with that knowledge, he keeps the Word of God in his mind and heart continuously.
"I keep your precepts and your testimonies,
for all my ways are before you."
Psalm 199:168
What is so very sad is the home in which the Bible is displayed nicely, but never read. What blindness! What lack of understanding! What a shame! God has stated in his Word that HE values his Word even above his name.
"For you have magnified your Word above all your Name."
Psalm 138:2
If therefore, the Lord places such supreme value upon his Word, how can a man live without it? WHY would a person choose to live without it? Pray with me: Father, reveal to me the depth of the value you place on your Word. Let it be a life-changing revelation showing that all the issues of life must stand or fall upon knowing your Word and abiding in it. Let me quench, I pray, every thought Satan puts into my heart that would keep me from knowing this, for it must be everything to us - as it is to you. In Jesus's name I pray.
"And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32
The religious leaders Jesus was speaking to didn't get it - because they were thinking from a worldly perspective.
vs 33:
"They answered him, 'We are Abraham’s descendants,
and have never been in bondage to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will be made free?'”
They had no idea what he was talking about. Jesus was not speaking of being in bondage to anyone, but of being in bondage to ANYTHING.
"The truth shall make you free" ...what does that mean?
We are born into a fallen world, to fallen parents, into a fallen human nature. We grow up this way. From our youth our minds are flooded with what the world says. Daily we hear the philosophies of the world. Do you watch tv? Do you listen to "experts" who speak what they think they know - but are SO often mistaken? They are not ABLE to know the truth, because truth is discerned by the spirit.
"But the NATURAL MAN does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him; nor CAN he know them,
because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED."
1st Corinthians 2:14
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."
1st Corinthians 3:19
If the wisdom of the experts is foolishness with God ...why do you put your trust in them? God is telling you in advance that they are WRONG.
One astonishing fact is that almost all the "fathers" of psychiatry and psychology were involved in the occult. So your counselor went to college and what he studied was the teaching of occultists. Sigmund Freud, considered the father of modern psychology, was an atheist. At the end he was in pain from a tumor and he committed suicide. Carl Jung was an occultist with "psychic abilities." These and many, many others formed the foundation of modern psychology which your counselor studied in order to become a counselor.
God calls it foolishness.
"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust,
avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions
of SCIENCE FALSELY SO CALLED..."
1st Timothy 6:19
The media. Have you ever questioned what the media put out? Are you not aware that the media are controlled by "the world?" Do you just believe what you read or watch, without the critical eye of one who knows that the "experts" are under the control of "the world?" In other words - their wisdom is foolishness according to the word of God.
So you're listening to someone steeped in foolishness. They SOUND good - all "experts" do.
Have you noticed that people who go to counselors never stop going to counselors? Their problem never gets solved - nor CAN it be solved by counselors who are peddling "science falsely so called."
On the other hand, Jesus said that if you know THE TRUTH - you will be set free. The truth, and ONLY the truth, can set a person free.
So ...HOW does one come to know the truth?
The God who created mankind did not leave him saying, "good luck, I hope you make it" and walk off. No, God who created us gave us his "manufacturer's handbook," the Word of God, the Bible. In that book is the answer to all the ills of mankind. It explains your condition, and provides the answers. It tells you that you were born into a fallen human nature, and that's why you must be born again, for ONLY THEN can you see and understand.
Get it. Read it. It will change your whole life. The truth WILL set you free.
More:
Born Again - what does that mean, really?
"To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints,
grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Romans 1:7
What IS a "saint?"
The Roman Catholic Church declares that they have the power to promote a deceased person to sainthood. This is so typical of the enemy of the faith, throwing confusion onto something and counterfeiting a doctrine out of it. No, a "saint" is NOT a holy person that the Catholic Church has "canonized" after death. In fact, that false teaching has led to all sorts of deception including the idea that we are to pray to "saints" in heaven, which is in direct contradiction to the Scriptures which tell us we are not to pray to ANYONE other than God. TO NO ONE, other than God. To pray to anyone other than God, including to Mary the mother of Jesus, is idolatry. It is heresy. She is not omni-present. She cannot hear "prayers" to her. God is the only one who is omni-present.
It's a particular favorite of Satan, for his deepest desire is to steer hearts away from God and insult his holiness. Satan doesn't care who you pray to, as long as it's not to God. He doesn't care who you put your trust in, as long as it's not in God - and Satan will do all he can to help you with that! There is absolutely no passage in the Bible which speaks of prayer being made to a dead person, no matter how "holy" the person was. Can you imagine the apostle Paul praying to someone other than God? If you've read the Bible, your answer will be "of course not." Can you imagine him using statues or rosaries? No of course not. You won't find it in Scripture, friends, because it's just not there. All glory and honor belong to God alone.
"I am the Lord, that is my name;
AND MY GLORY I WILL NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER..."
Isaiah 42:8
To elevate a human being to the position of an intermediary in heaven is idolatry. It is heresy. There is only ONE mediator:
"For there is one God and ONE MEDIATOR
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..."
1st Timothy 2:5
A saint, according to the Scriptures, is a person who has been born again through faith in Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with goodness. The lowliest believer even yet with faults, is called a saint in the Scriptures, not by his goodness or lack thereof but by being sanctified through faith in Jesus Christ. And just as you wouldn't pray to a born-again believer here on earth, so we are not to bring prayer to ANYONE but to God himself.
People who commit these idolatries are those who are ignorant of the Word of God (the Bible). Friends, if you care to escape deception, read in the Word of God daily. Ask the Spirit of God to enlighten you as you read, and he will make that Book come alive to you. In it you will discover the contradictions between religious teachings you may have grown up with, versus the truth of the Word of God. It might stretch you a little to acknowledge the truth when it contradicts popular but false doctrines.
The Word of God is your only hope against deception. In God's Word you will find all you need to know about God, about yourself, why you're here, where you're going, and how to get there. And in it you will discover the proper way to worship God, the way he and he alone has shown us.
"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
MORE:
Catholicism