TWILY Ministries
|Love Notes| September 2011
Open
Your Bibles, If You Will!
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Some people pride themselves on having a great sense of
direction; I can't say that.
No; the moment I find myself surrounded by barrels, cones,
and POORLY marked detours, I'm
thrown for a complete loop. - And though I'm convinced that GPS systems were
invented for people just like me, I still do not have one! - I sure don't.
Don't get me wrong, though; I do have a system, which I put to
great use, especially when there are no clearly marked detour signs. Here is
how it works: I say to myself, "Follow
that vehicle; they SEEM to know how to get to the main road!" I know, you're probably laughing, but you'd be surprised, though, at just how well it works. Well,
usually; not the last time, though.
I was heading to an
event. I
had never been in that particular area before, so I was REALLY
counting on my "computer-generated map"; it was serving me well,
too, that is, until, out of nowhere, I found myself in the middle of a
construction zone; barrels, cones, and again, a POORLY
MARKED DETOUR route. I didn't want
to be late, so I knew I had to quickly put my system to work; FOLLOW
THE LEADER! After spotting my
"lead vehicle", a somewhat LARGE
TRUCK, I was happily on my way. Within a few short minutes, I could see the
main road signs, which gave me full assurance that I had followed a good
leader! Yep, everything was working out just fine; but not for long.
SUDDENLY, my "leader", if you will, SWERVED HIS VEHICLE to the
right! - And me? What did I do? - Well, with no advance warning, and little time to react, I
kept driving; driving right into what he had successfully missed: ROAD
KILL! I sure did, and
friends, whatever I had been singing, was quickly replaced with me screaming
"GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!" all
the way to my destination! - That's what can
happen, though, when we FOLLOW TOO CLOSELY: One SUDDEN MOVE by the leader, and "we're" the ones
to end up in a mess! It's true; not
only in traffic, but sadly, even in ministry! Yes, sometimes people
begin to follow their leaders - or other Christian favorites - too closely,
and as soon as that leader takes an UNEXPECTED tumble, say, into some
gross sin, often, the person's faith is destroyed. See below, for a modified
example, of what one unnamed individual wrote: "All while they were preaching and singing the Word of
God, they were living a totally different lifestyle! See, THAT'S WHY I CAN'T
BELIEVE ANYMORE!" Unfortunately, that is not an isolated case;
here is another modified example: "That preacher said once I got saved, I wouldn't have any
trouble; I was there for years, and I had more trouble than ever; I'm done
with all of it!" Clearly, these two people cited different
reasons for "no longer believing", but when we really look at it, we can see that they both
had suffered from the same problem: following people too closely; sounds
like they never knew God's Word for themselves; especially, in the second
case. - I mean, he knew what the "preacher said",
but I wonder, had he ever seen what Jesus said - about "trouble?"... I have told you these things, so that in me
you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world." - (John
16:33 - NIV) No wonder, he was frustrated! - He didn't know the
truth! He's not alone; many people, traveling on
their Christian journeys, are heading for the same frustration. Unwisely,
they place their faith in someone's personality
and - sometimes - twisted teachings,
never checking to see what is or isn't true! When trouble
arises, their faith doesn't hold up; but
then again, how can it when their faith has a faulty center? It has been well said... "Our
faith is only as good, as the object upon which it is placed." Friends, that object MUST be the Lord Jesus
Christ! What about our earthly leaders, though?
- Aren't we to follow them, too? Yes! - And, thank the Lord for blessing us with such gifted teachers,
preachers, evangelists, and so on, but no matter how BIG, popular, charismatic, renown, or "sought after"
someone may be, they are NEVER to be the "object" of our faith; we
should never be "so close" that, should they take an unfortunate tumble,
our faith tumbles in the process! We can prevent that by, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our
faith!- (para.- Hebrews 12:2) You know what else is great about following
Him? - We NEVER have
to worry about getting too close! In fact, the closer we get, the
better, for the Bible tells us, "Come
close to God, and He will come close to you." - (James 4:8 Amp
Bible) It doesn't get any better than that, friends,
don't you agree? I trust that you do! Well, that pretty much covers it, for this
edition - I hear October knocking! As I close, though, here are a couple of things to remember: 1) ALWAYS keep Jesus as the object
of your faith and 2), ALWAYS check things out, to see if they
are true; and how can we know whether
they are true? Well, I think one of
my favorite teachers - Pastor Emory Moss - says it best, in the way he
begins every sermon... "Open your Bibles, if you will!" God willing, see you soon! Love in Christ, Joyce |
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© Joyce Bailey
September 2011