Monday, January 18, 2016

Recommendations

Recommendations
January 18, 2016
Philippians 4:9  "And what you have learned and have received and have heard and have seen in me, practice these things. And the God of peace will be with you."

The Bible is full of sage advice.  If you read the Bible for nothing else, other than wisdom, you cannot go wrong.  I have not found one thing in the Bible that has led me astray or given me a poor recommendation.  In fact, if I cannot hear a clear voice from the Lord when I need advice, as long as I follow Scripture, I cannot go wrong.  There is so much to glean from the Bible regarding relationships, leadership, finances, health, work, you name it.  If you have a problem, there is a method to handle it as recommended by Scripture.  When I say recommendations, I mean that it is completely optional.

You have the full option to follow sage advice or not.  The Lord gives you the opportunity to make your own decisions, completely by yourself.  You can also choose your own ways in life, without even acknowledging Him.  I would not recommend that, however, but many people choose that path.  But if you've decided there is a God in Heaven who created the universe by Himself, and that He truly did send His Son to die on the cross for you, why would you attempt to decide anything else?  I mean, why would you think that someone, or yourself, has any greater ideas than the One who created the Universe.  If I need to figure out how to fix my car, I turn toward the manufacturer's manual for guidance.  I don't attempt to disassemble the vehicle completely on my own, thinking I'm smart enough to figure it out.  Sure, the Lord gave you and me a strong head on our shoulders, but it does not suggest our computing power is anywhere remotely close to the Lord's.

You have a problem right now, a conundrum, a solution that needs a resolution and you've been trying to figure out how to resolve it.  Start with reading the Bible, before you attempt to handle it your way.  Find out what Scripture recommends before you ask your spouse or even your parents for help.  If you want to handle it one way and the advise you're receiving from others recommends the same thing, yet neither are parallel with Scripture, then you're likely to screw it up (unless, of course, you follow Scripture).  Again, I've never been able to prove the Bible wrong.  If the Bible says submit to your leadership and pray for them, then that is what you should do, serving them in the manner the Lord asks of you.  If the Bible says to stop worrying about it and trust Him, then that is what you should do.  If the Bible says to forgive and love that jerk, then that is what you should do.

Don't get me wrong, I've never said following the recommendations in Scripture are easy, or will pay off instantly.  I just know I've never been able to prove the Bible to be wrong.  The Bible has a recommendation for EVERYTHING, literally everything and it seldom makes sense to our human understanding.  But if you fill your head with Scripture, and life throws you a new one, you'll instantly draw upon the recommendations found in Scripture and ironically it will no longer seem like a recommendation but the only way to handle life.  I do know one thing, that the advice found in Scripture is the right way and if followed correctly will never result in disaster.

Don't take my word for it; look it up: 2 Kings 5:1-14, Is 55:9, John 13:17