November 23
Ezek 45:13-46:24 | PS 119:33-48 | Prov 28:11 | 1 Peter 1:13-2:10
People like choices. When it comes to faith, people like the choice of denomination, worship style, the congregation, etc. But, we must never be lulled into an "all roads lead to mentality". There is only one way to salvation, and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is only one way to embarking this relationship and that is through the repentance of sins. There is only one book, the Bible, which stands as the written source of all that is right and wrong, and which stands as the authority for every topic of substance. This is the purpose of the One Year Bible Challenge. The majority, not the minority, make the choice not to read the entirety of God's Word. The excuses are many: "I don't like to read", "I don't have time", "It's confusing", "I've already read it before". Immersing ourselves in God's Word is not an option, it is an essential. Every book, every chapter, every word is inspired, whether you particularly like a particular section or not. God has called each of us to be holy. The opposite of holy is common. There is no way to be holy unless you spend time daily in His Word.
Interestingly, the longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, with 176 verses. It is an acrostic Psalm (which is somewhat lost when translated from Hebrew into English). Each section of 8 verses starts with a letter of the alphabet, and each of those verses begin with that same letter. These letters go in order, the A,B,C's of Hebrew. It is said that the Hebrew children learned the alphabet by learning this psalm. Interestingly, all but 3 of the 176 verses have some reference to the Word of God: His law, statutes, commandments, precepts, testimonies, etc. In those days, most of the Hebrew people had committed to memory large portions of Scripture. They were called to holy living, which was impossible outside of God's Word. Almost 1500 years later, we read in 1 Peter 1:13-16, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”" What Peter had. and for that matter, what we have now is a more complete picture, as we know that our salvation rests not on the common things of the world, but we were redeemed, "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1:19)
Peter goes on to emphasize in 1 Peter 2:1-2, "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,". Malice refers to evil thoughts, guile is deceitfulness, hypocrisy is acting like you are something other than you really are, envying is desiring something that you don't have, and evil speaking is gossiping. This is what the world is immersed in. These are the common or unholy things which make up the world that we live in. To the extent that we participate in such godless behaviors, we make the choice to immerse ourselves in the common, rather than what is holy. The only way out of this on a daily basis is through the "milk of His word". This is our spiritual food which needs to fill our mind, heart, and our life. This is not a choice. This is an essential. Immerse yourself this day.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: