Sift Through the Entertaining to Find the Sustaining

We watched part of Shark Week which highlights activities and history of sharks. It’s pretty dramatic at times, especially when the larger sharks are showcased. On one episode the crew fought a 70 foot shark! Huge beyond imagination – longer than our house.  I was shocked and awed by it all. I even shared some of the information with a couple of friends.

The next evening we were talking about it with our family.  They asked me if I had read the scrolling information at the end of the show. I had missed it entirely.  They said it was hard for them to read so they slowed it down with their DVR. The words told the truth regardless of what we’d seen. “Dramatized” was the main word for me. The producers had deliberately misled the listening audience. I had been misled. Until I read the truth I had believed a lie. Seeing it in writing I could no longer believed the lie, nor could I share the lie with anyone else. It was all staged for their own profit.  I had been snookered into believing something I had seen. But it couldn’t be backed up with truth.

There is much in this world that we can learn. There is also much that isn’t true. How do we know the difference? How do we sift through the entertaining to find the sustaining? How do we click through the fiction to find reality? How do we keep from being misled and let God lead us into all truth?

Preachers give us the food that teaches us how to live. Teachers give us insight that they get from much study. But we must take in the Word for ourselves. We must be students of God’s Truth. Daily, as we read His Word and ask for the Holy Spirit to enlighten the eyes of our understanding we will know quickly what is false and what is true. Without the Holy Spirit teaching us as we take in the Word we will stay confused and believe whatever we hear. Our faith will waver and our hearts will wonder as we try to mix everything together and find the answers.

Oh beloved, run to the Truth this morning. Let God reveal Himself to you and then let Him guide you into all truth!  He will not only speak facts to cover your fiction, He will speak love to cover your affections. He knows your feelings, He knows your desires and He knows your dreams. He also knows that many times you followed the lie because it seemed easier, felt better and required little if anything from you. But God says if you will trust Him today, He will love you beyond your wildest dreams and show you how to live. Others may have told you they were true but left you fallen and alone. He will replace your mistakes and your missteps, your broken heart and dreams with His friendship, His fellowship and His life. Then you will be able to walk in freedom, share the Truth and gain treasures in heaven. As you grow in His Truth, you will be more than a listener; you’ll be an overcoming believer!

God is true and His Word tells you the truth: that He loves you and He’s for you always and forever and that’s all that really matters.

 

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psalm 119:160 The very essence of Your words is truth; all Your just regulations will stand forever.

Psalm 19:7 The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. (AMP)

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

God's Fingerprint is on Your Life

The funeral for Danny’s aunt was held in North Central Baptist Church. The men who officiated at the funeral knew his aunt quite well.  The man who sang was one of Danny’s childhood friends.  All three men talked, through tears of grief, of growing up under her guidance in that very church.

The pastor talked about Uncle James pastoring the church for so many years. They were instrumental, Danny’s aunt and uncle, in building the new sanctuary (now 20 years old). They talked of her tireless efforts to help build the building, teach the Sunday School class and feed the grieving at oh so many funerals. They also spoke of her reminding them to live for the Lord and how they each wanted to do better just to please her. They spoke over and over about her love for them, for their children and now their children’s children. Her dedication to the Lord left them grieving even more at their loss.  

As one speaker put it, “Her fingerprints are everywhere in this church.”

We loved her and we knew a lot about her. After all, she was Danny’s aunt. But I don’t think any of us knew the exact scope of her inspiration and spiritual fingerprints on all who knew her.  She was a friend to sinners, a mother to those who needed mothering and a helper to her husband and daughter and congregation.  She did everything with love and tender care.

Not everyone has a person in their life who was such an inspiration. It could be that some folks grow up without the spiritual influence of a loved one. Not everyone lives their whole life within the shadow of the church walls.  There are times when grief is overwhelming and no one knows life’s hurts and trials. You may be thinking that God must have loved her a lot; God must have loved her church family a lot to let them have her in their life.  You may be wishing for just such an influence.

Oh beloved, there is One whose fingerprints are everywhere in your life! From the foundation of the world you were cared about. Before you were conceived you were planned! Before you were born, every issue of your life had its resolution. Even in the times when your birth family was less than it should have been, the Lord Himself was tending your life! He wants to remind you this morning, He speaks from His heart as He woos you, I love you – your name is graven on My hands. Your life is hidden in Me. Your past is paid for, your present is secure and your future is with Me! I love you and I am always with you, He calls out again. He speaks Truth into your heart and His plan is that you should live your entire life with His fingerprints on every aspect of your life!

If you will let Him, He will take the things that are less than great to remember and put them away. He will replace your hard times with His tender mercy. He will remove your guilt and give you grace to make it in times of need. He will move you from ordinary to extraordinary so that when it’s all said and done and life here is over you will be welcomed to your real home in glory! And that’s worth living for Him!

Colossians 1:27-28 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.

I Peter 4:2 You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.

Matthew 6:25 That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

2 Peter 1:4 And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.