Interpretation

One of the most radical things about Jesus, the thing that really set the religious folks off was His interpretation of scripture. Man had twisted The Word to fit his own agenda and Jesus came to set things straight, after all it’s His Word. It’s a shame history repeats itself. Fortunately the simplicity of Christ’s teaching can be as clear today if we’ll trust in Him. Don’t let religion complicate.

Glorified

“To glorify the name of the Lord Jesus would be enough for any ransomed sinner, but to be told (2Thess. 1:11, 12) that in the very glorifying of Jesus he himself would be glorified in Him – well, that is just too overwhelmingly good.” – E. Stanley Jones

That’s grace, we were made to live in Him, with Him, about Him and for Him, not for His benefit but because together (He in us, us in Him) was and is the entire goal. It’s the very thing the world desperately seeks and we must be willing to share in word and deed.

Couldn’t He Tell Me?

Hearing God’s voice should never be an excuse to put ourselves between He and someone else. We should also never allow people to put us there. The intimate, one of a kind relationship God wants with us is also what He wants with everyone so why would we want to hinder that by getting in the way. We are called to encourage others towards Him. If we are given a Word for someone we need to be extremely careful in how we present it and ask them to seek Him in order to hear it for themselves.

One point of clarification, the “Word” we are talking about is a specific thought or action relating to a unique situation in someone’s life. This is not the same as Biblical wisdom that is always applicable. It’s always okay for us to share from The Word.

Attributes

God wants more than anything for us to know Him. The relationship He desires with us must go both directions. He reveals Himself to us through His Word, creation, prayer and everyday interaction and one of the best ways to know when it’s Him is to be familiar with what we call His attributes or characteristics, those things about Him that are certain and have already been discovered. So let’s take a few days and explore some of the attributes of God.

Repentance

Scripture says, “The goodness of God leads to repentance.” The Word is also clear that God hates evil not evildoers and that we are to love our enemies. So how effective is it to stand on the street corner and rebuke people? Loving someone to Christ takes more commitment than that. Proving God’s love comes from investing in someone’s life not shouting them down as they pass by.

In Deed

We can’t be all talk: “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth.”

Asks

In the verse we talked about yesterday, there’s a small word that often gets overlooked; the word “asks”. This little word indicates that when people are ready to listen, they will ask a question. Hopefully they’ll ask because they see something in us that’s different. This is God at work. We don’t need to take matters into our hands if we’ll pray and respond to His opportunities.