Pay earnest heed!

(1Corinthians 1:18) “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

“Lift up your voices salvation is calling”; it’s not those that are hopeful, without calling out on the name of the Lord, who has any true hope. And the more one fixates on ones hope the more one will call upon the name of the Lord. But there is an enemy and he is ferocious; if faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, then time must be given to it. It will be impossible to ignite our hope will any real vigour without spending time in the Word. One could compare it to a world class athlete who never trains but expects to win Olympic gold and then when they don’t, they seem somewhat disappointed.

Propaganda is an interesting concept; it is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group. This word is often use in a negative sense, but if we want to have the faith of a mustard seed we need to be engrossed in the Bible. Our minds need to be renewed with the Holy Scriptures. I am realizing the less time I spend contemplating God’s Word the less fruitful I become and visa-versa. It is all linked to our mental and verbal connection to our Lord and Saviour. The older I get the harder it is to spool some of my thoughts and the only way I am able to combat them is to spend time reading and praying around God’s Word and obviously, with the help of God the Holy Spirit.

I have quantified the obvious, but it is only palpable if we make it our own, so if we are not spending time with the Lord and in His Word we will be more susceptible to the enemy; Satan as well as the lusts of our own flesh. One cannot tell oneself that I must arm my mind with the “mind of Christ” and then sit back and in faith hope I change, we must be proactive and feed on the nourishment from God’s Word and it will be marrow to our bones. Although we have been created with a memory, we also have a “forgettory” if you like and this is why we must be diligent, or at least learn to be assiduous when it comes to spending time feeding the Spirit. The lie that often presents itself is that it is not that important, but in fact it is so important our life depends on it.

The concept is not foreign to us, if we want to lose weight we go on a diet and exercise and before long we witness positive results. God help us to put more time aside for Him than the day before and it won’t be long and we will see positive results. The fruits of the Spirit will become evident in our lives. The more we bath in the fountain of life the more our ongoing sanctification process will begin to make inroads into holy living and the meeker we will become. I have been found wanting and I need to change my attention to seek out God’s Word with a lot more diligence.

The Word of God is designed to equip the believer in combat against all that which is evil, when we chose to put it aside or give no thought to it we are found wanting. The Word of God is aimed and designed to influence our mindsets, it is a help to lead us in a particular direction, it is a form of “propaganda” and it leads to life eternal and there is nothing negative about it. If you believe that your flesh is inherently good and you within yourself have something positive in the eyes of God to offer this world, then you will look to avoid this counsel as it is designed to keep the body under. It helps the body and all our preconceived ideas about how great we are, die a slow death. In fact it actually exposes the exact opposite; it proves how far I am from God’s holiness and it leaves me rather deflated at times. It leaves me with a great dependency on my great God and Saviour to get me home. I realize that without my great King, the Lord Jesus, I will never attain to the resurrection. And by spending time in the Word of God I am so reminded; thank you Father God for your perfect plan. Many may frown upon it, but they live with a false sense of security, help me remember the importance of it, I pray!

Help all of your children across the globe pay more earnest heed to this discipline, which is to spend more time on our knees and more time reading the inspired Word of God, Amen!

May we remember that no man ever served God by doing something tomorrow, today is the day of salvation, we must act today and not put it off until tomorrow. This then must become our mindset and resolve.

Signing off

Tyrone