GOD SPEAKS

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 1 Kings 19:4.

Have you ever been given a task by the Lord? Then, never say or speak that it is not possible for you to do the task assigned to you by the Lord. Most of the times we take up new tasks eagerly, but we are unable to finish it off. The task may seem difficult. Going through different difficult conditions teaches us many things. The Lord deliberately allows us to experience such conditions and understand many things. The Lord may use your experienced knowledge for a purpose. Otherwise, what is the use of experiencing such worried conditions? In all such circumstances, He shall be with us. But, in such circumstances, speaking senseless words would definitely be an impediment to the progress of His wished-for outcome. Your senseless words even affect the people around you. For this, each of us may have our own excuses. However, this does not make our Lord happy.

Prophet Elijah did great miracles in the name of the Lord. He was successful to bring the fire of the Lord even before all the heathen people. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.1 Kings 18:38. All people saw it and said –“The Lord is God.”  Was it not his experience? Then why did say- “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”  Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope? Job 4:6. Why did Prophet Elijah speak such words? Could not the Lord save him from the hands of Jezebel? Were his words matched with the purposed of the Lord? These words changed the course of action. The Lord had to make alternative arrangements. The Lord chose Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah and directed Prophet Elijah to anoint Elishato be aprophet instead of him. The Lord might have planned many things and expected many miracles from the Prophet Elijah. However, that did not happen. This all happened as Prophet Elijah spoke words which did not make the Lord happy.

It is still relevant to us. This is a good lesson for all of us. Do you believe that our Lord is a living God? Then why do you speak words which mess-up the plans of the Lord? Wait and see how the Lord leads you in all difficult situations.

For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 2 Timothy 4:10

What is there in this present world? The Bible says- For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world 1 John 16. From this verse, it is obvious that there are three aspects in this world.

(1)     The lust of the flesh

(2)     The lust of the eyes

(3)     The boastful pride of life.

We cannot love both God and the world at the same time. Some or all of the above three aspects might have attracted Demas. Demas, having loved this world, was unable to continue with God Servant Paul. Thereafter, he deserted St Paul and even God. Why this happened?  This happens even today. Our reasons for accepting the Lord as our personal saviour may be not perfect. The main reason for us to have faith in Him is to have the eternal life after death. This is the essence of the Bible which talks, without doubt, about eternal life after one’s death. The Bible says that the life on this earth is temporary and one should prepare his life on this earth for this eternal life in Christ Jesus. We need a right foundation for our faith. In this regard, the Bible says- Do not love this world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him 1 John 2:15. Therefore, we cannot love both God and the world simultaneously. We must be watchful if the things of the world entering into our lives.

Leaving the living God is not a right decision. People may think that they will delight in the world but practically this might not happen. In reality, we may lose everything we have. This could be our wealth, health, family, happiness, etc.  Look at this verse from the Bible: And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Luke 15:11. What did this younger son gain? He thought he could do well with his share of the estate fallen to him. Finally, he lost everything. He lost the loving presence of his father. He lost his brother’s fellowship. He lost his riches. His status became a servant to a man in a far country. What do you gain if you go away from the Lord? There is no joy in this world. This is available only with the Lord Jesus. Read this verse- You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalms 16:11.

Finally, it is important to note that once we go away from the Lord, it might not be possible for us to comeback to holy presence. Demas was with St Paul. He might have seen great heavenly miracles from the Lord. He might have experienced the presence of the Lord. However, it is written that he left St. Paul as he had loved the present world. In this context, Read this verse: For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. Hebrews 6:4-6. In the above parable, the prodigal son came to his senses and returned to his father. How many of us can really come back to our father if we have fallen away? Which is easier for you to keep a perfect relation with God or to fall away and comeback to Him?

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; Titus 1:1 & Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:4.

Things of the Lord cannot be understood completely with a human brain. Our brain cannot understand the spiritual things completely. In this regard, Read this verse-  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13.  Man’s wisdom cannot completely reveal the things of the Lord.  If the knowledge of man is the criteria for faith in the Lord, He would have chosen the men of wisdom for His work. Remember His twelve disciples. Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus Acts 4:13. They were fishermen. They were not scholars but still were chosen by the Lord. Why? Can uneducated fishermen understand the things of the Lord with their brain? Then what is important – Knowledge of the word of God or knowledge of word of God along with spiritual experience?

The foundation of the faith of Christians needs to be acknowledgement of spiritual truth by each and every individual. Everyone needs to taste the Lord’s good ness. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Psalms 34:8. Taste cannot be taught. Taste is an individual experience and denotes the acknowledgment of truth. This should be your base for your faith. This will strengthen you in Christ Jesus. This will make you save yourself from the false teachings and teachings that come out of human brain and from unnecessary arguments concerning the things of the Lord.

In this regard, a good example can be seen from the Bible. The Lord told his disciples to teach the gospel to the ends of this world. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15. This was the message given by the Lord to all his disciples. But this was not completely understood by them until it was acknowledged as truth. In other words, this was understood completely through experience. This spiritual experience had made them to understand the things of the Lord better than understating with the human brain. In Acts Chapter 10, Peter saw a vision concerning the gentiles. Till then, he was of the thought that gospel was not meant for gentiles though the Lord had told them – Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Were not gentiles in the world? Thereafter, he realized that God was not a respecter of persons. – Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: Acts 10:34. He is Lord of all. Why did it happen? It was because our knowledge of word of God is not enough to understand certain things of the Lord. There may be thousands of preachers who give lectures and interpretations of each verse of the Bible. But preaching or talking what they have acknowledged as truth is important since it establishes our faith. Acknowledgement of truth with your spiritual experience is greater than your knowledge about the word of God. This is required for all who claim themselves as Christians. If it is there in everyone, then no false teaching shall move them to depart from the Lord since the spiritual experience has more insights than other’s knowledge. Therefore, let the acknowledgement of truth in the word of God be the basis for your faith. Avoid all interpretations for unnecessary arguments coming from faulty human brain.