I've been reading Matthew this morning....the first time I've read my Bible in several days....I've been thinking of the verse 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;" I see this verse played out in my life. A few days out of the Word and my language deteriorates. My temper flares. My unhappiness in every way increases. I depend on the time I spend in Scripture and prayer. Otherwise, as you can see, my sinful self nature asserts itself no longer quelled and bound by Scripture...
That brings to mind another verse that I just read: Matt. 12:29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man...And then he will plunder the house." Can this refer to our sin nature in us--or even Satan himself, the presence of evil....The Christ has plundered Satan's house and has taken all those who were His own and in those three days in the grave, Jesus was binding the strong man and making off with those souls that Satan had thought were his own...both present and future.
When we wander off from the fold (note: we are still the sheep belonging to the shepherd), Satan is gleeful...temptations abound as do short tempers and bad language. But when the STRONGER man comes to reclaim and reprove his errant lamb, Satan is powerless because he has been bound. And the means by which Jesus gets us back on the proper path is through the great gift of the Word.
Hebrews 4:12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
That brings to mind another verse that I just read: Matt. 12:29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man...And then he will plunder the house." Can this refer to our sin nature in us--or even Satan himself, the presence of evil....The Christ has plundered Satan's house and has taken all those who were His own and in those three days in the grave, Jesus was binding the strong man and making off with those souls that Satan had thought were his own...both present and future.
When we wander off from the fold (note: we are still the sheep belonging to the shepherd), Satan is gleeful...temptations abound as do short tempers and bad language. But when the STRONGER man comes to reclaim and reprove his errant lamb, Satan is powerless because he has been bound. And the means by which Jesus gets us back on the proper path is through the great gift of the Word.
Hebrews 4:12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Word is God's scalpel...with it he makes corrections that are life saving..but it can initially be painful when he asks us to give up our habits of self destruction and to take up our cross and follow him. He warns us that this will not be a popular decision in some people's homes. Jesus warns that our enemies will be the members of our own household
When you are surrounded by godlessness, it is so much more important to fill your godly gas tank with the words of Scripture. And to beseech the Lord to pour out goodness on your family--that they too would come to love the God you serve.
Any step away from the narrow path you follow could be devastating. Every day of neglected prayer and reading will carry you farther from the place you really long to be. Busyness, forgetfulness, preoccupation, and poor time management are all the enemies of a faithful walk.
To me, the evidence is that the Word is Living and powerful, to correct and reprove, to correct me and train me in righteousness. For example: a person who visits a foreign country and gradually picks up the language spoken there---once they come home, will begin to speak their native tongue once more and they begin to forget the language of the foreign country.
Our self nature is the home language we revert to once away from the foreign country and it is heaven's language we begin to forget as soon as we are away from it's influence. It takes REPEATED contact with the concepts and language and the kind of pure heart you desire...and all of that can be attained by daily time in the Word ...and by not only having a disciplined regular prayer time, but also to walk in mindfulness of the fact that we have a loving God ready to hear and act on our behalf 24/7.
Do not make God chase you and put a bit and bridle on you to keep you where you need to be. Walk in freedom, joyously sharing your journey with the Lord of the Galaxies ...Read his words. Meditate on them, let them clean the filth from your heart and be filled with the Spirit of God in a "clean house."
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