Hello friends,
In local news, our church’s 10th Valentine supper was held Sunday. The weather man is predicting warmer temperatures for the week ahead. I’m sure the ranchers will welcome this news, as calving season is very near.
What Jesus do you follow? Is it the Jesus of the Bible, or one of your own design? A recent article from BreakPoint, the radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries, addressed this question. Many people would rather follow their idea of who they want Him to be, rather than who He really is.
Quoting from the article: “The purpose of the Bible is to reveal God. But for a growing number of progressive Christians, the God they want can’t be found in the pages of Scripture. So they look for Him elsewhere—in personal experience, through relationships with other people, and through private interpretations of when they say God “speaks into” their life.”
Some liberal churches insist that “God is still speaking.” They are actually suggesting that God has changed His mind on issues like morality and marriage, and that their ideas of who God should be trumps the God His word reveals.
One author writes that for Christians, Jesus, not the Bible, has the final word. To this statement, a Christian blogger asked this important question: To which “Jesus” are these folks referring? He then goes on to say, “The only real Jesus we have intellectual access to is the Jesus revealed to us in the Bible.” That Jesus reaffirmed the exclusivity of natural marriage, endorsed every “jot and tittle” of the Old Testament, and talked as much about hell and judgment as He did the Kingdom of Heaven.
A devotional that made the rounds on social media featured a pretty purple flower and a quote from Luke 4:7: “if you worship me, it will all be yours.” It’s meant to inspire—until you realize who said it: Satan.
How we use the Bible is important, and we should always consider the context of the scriptures we read. Our approach to the Bible is vitally important. God’s word is not a calendar of inspirational, feel good quotes. When we open the Bible, we are stepping into God’s story, understanding our place in His design and meeting Him on His terms, asking the question, “Are we looking for the real God, or remaking a god in our image?
In Truth,
Pastor Jerry
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