Speaking of God: The Need for Accuracy and Understanding
Job 42:7
…the LORD said…My wrath is kindled against thee…for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right…
We CAN talk TOO MUCH about God! That is, we can say a lot more about God than what we actually know to be true about Him. When this happens, The Lord’s wrath is kindled. It is unfortunate today that our Lord is so quickly and so often misrepresented by those who claim to know Him, but know absolutely nothing about Him and His character whatsoever. Did you know that we can read the scriptures which tell us about many of the acts of God, but without careful study and guidance by His Spirit, we can make assumptions about His person based upon our limited understanding of His acts that may or may not be true?
For example, I think here of when the disciples asked Christ if they should call down fire out of Heaven to consume that Samaritan village which rejected the opportunity to host Jesus temporarily because He wouldn’t stay as long as they wanted Him to. Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” You see, the disciples made an assumption about the Father’s method of operation based upon the Father’s previous ACTIONS recorded in the Old Testament. They assumed that His actions of Judgment were to be expected. However, they did not understand the differences of circumstances as it related to the men’s hearts involved, nor did they understand the Father’s mission in each context.
The truth is, His ways are past finding out. We would do better to study His person and His heart rather than His ways. His ways may give us clues, but are often inconclusive as it relates to His future predictability without details which He may never reveal to us. Furthermore, even though The Word said His ways are past finding out, it never said HE was past finding out! Consider Jeremiah 29:13, which says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Question: Are you busy studying God’s history, or God’s heart? Are you studying His actions, or His ambitions? Are you studying His methods, or His motives? Do you see in the Bible only a list to look at, or a Lord to follow? You see, when you get to know HIM, you can trust His ways, even as varied and unpredictable as they may be!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
…the LORD said…My wrath is kindled against thee…for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right…
We CAN talk TOO MUCH about God! That is, we can say a lot more about God than what we actually know to be true about Him. When this happens, The Lord’s wrath is kindled. It is unfortunate today that our Lord is so quickly and so often misrepresented by those who claim to know Him, but know absolutely nothing about Him and His character whatsoever. Did you know that we can read the scriptures which tell us about many of the acts of God, but without careful study and guidance by His Spirit, we can make assumptions about His person based upon our limited understanding of His acts that may or may not be true?
For example, I think here of when the disciples asked Christ if they should call down fire out of Heaven to consume that Samaritan village which rejected the opportunity to host Jesus temporarily because He wouldn’t stay as long as they wanted Him to. Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” You see, the disciples made an assumption about the Father’s method of operation based upon the Father’s previous ACTIONS recorded in the Old Testament. They assumed that His actions of Judgment were to be expected. However, they did not understand the differences of circumstances as it related to the men’s hearts involved, nor did they understand the Father’s mission in each context.
The truth is, His ways are past finding out. We would do better to study His person and His heart rather than His ways. His ways may give us clues, but are often inconclusive as it relates to His future predictability without details which He may never reveal to us. Furthermore, even though The Word said His ways are past finding out, it never said HE was past finding out! Consider Jeremiah 29:13, which says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Question: Are you busy studying God’s history, or God’s heart? Are you studying His actions, or His ambitions? Are you studying His methods, or His motives? Do you see in the Bible only a list to look at, or a Lord to follow? You see, when you get to know HIM, you can trust His ways, even as varied and unpredictable as they may be!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill