On another thread, "patriot13" stated.....
"I think we all do, sometimes take scripture out of context to meet our own selfish desires. It is a constant struggle, and we need to focus on not doing that every day."
I agree totally with his comment and it got me to thinking about things.
I have been alive for some time now and in my obersvation it it clear that every single person has an "agenda". Not everyone admitts that of course, but we all do. Some are obviouse and some are more suttle. I do not write these comments to be bantered back and forth but to simply to get us all thinking in a different direction.......Gods direction.
Now the question I think is WHY? Why do we say and do the things we say? What is your agenda?
WHY do we believe what we believe when in most cases it is clearly not in agrrement with the Word of God?
We see it everyday. Some one will post a Scripture and then we beat each other to death with quoted Scripture that match our "agenda". Again.....WHY do we do that?
Some want to be right. Some want to give the impression that God has given them a special insight not available to any one else. Some want the power that come with knowledge. Some are only in it for the money. Some follow the triditions of men not knowing what those men had as an agenda.
May I say to you that the most important thing we can learn is that nothing, no agenda is more important than the TRUTH.
So then, what is TRUTH? The problem is not in the truth but in its application, as is often the case with philosophical verbal gymnastics.
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ," ...(Colossians 2:8).
IMO, TRUTH is not what we say it is, but what God says it is. You see, we are all sinners with an agenda to serve self and we will use the Scriptures to support OUR agenda...BUT, our agenda is not always Gods agenda, and there my friends is where the trouble lies. This is not just true in Christianity but in all life in general.
We, people in general uselly seek the truth but the problem is that truth is not found in human wisdom our ability. CHRIST and only CHRIST is the answer to what TRUTH is. We tend to use philosophy to try and find the truth. It will not work. Philosophy has not answere, only more and more questions. It is like a blind man, in a room painted black, trying to find a black cat that is not there.
Paul wrote in Colossians 1:30......
"But of him are ye in CHRIST Jesus, who God is made unto us wisdom".
I hope that you all remember that Jesus condemned the religious rulers of His day because they taught the traditions of men rather than the Word of God. Very frankly speaking, this is my agenda in life. I have been to the universities, and schools of higher learning. I have sat listened to the learned men of our day and that is the reason I have focused on the Word of God in my life.
I have found that it is very easy to lift out some particular passage and then ride that passage like a hobby horse. It is easy to fall in love with an AGENDA and then use a passage of Scripture to force the meaning toward an agenda. We tend to believe or someone has convinced us of a verse to validate that thinking while all the time, rejecting all the other passages which tell us something all together
differant.
I believe in prophecy 100%, but there is more to the Word of God than just prophecy.
I believe in the ability of Christians being succesful in life, but there is more to the Word of God than just prosperity.
This is, as we begin a new year, WHY I think that it is so very important for us today to STUDY THE TOTAL Word of God.
"I think we all do, sometimes take scripture out of context to meet our own selfish desires. It is a constant struggle, and we need to focus on not doing that every day."
I agree totally with his comment and it got me to thinking about things.
I have been alive for some time now and in my obersvation it it clear that every single person has an "agenda". Not everyone admitts that of course, but we all do. Some are obviouse and some are more suttle. I do not write these comments to be bantered back and forth but to simply to get us all thinking in a different direction.......Gods direction.
Now the question I think is WHY? Why do we say and do the things we say? What is your agenda?
WHY do we believe what we believe when in most cases it is clearly not in agrrement with the Word of God?
We see it everyday. Some one will post a Scripture and then we beat each other to death with quoted Scripture that match our "agenda". Again.....WHY do we do that?
Some want to be right. Some want to give the impression that God has given them a special insight not available to any one else. Some want the power that come with knowledge. Some are only in it for the money. Some follow the triditions of men not knowing what those men had as an agenda.
May I say to you that the most important thing we can learn is that nothing, no agenda is more important than the TRUTH.
So then, what is TRUTH? The problem is not in the truth but in its application, as is often the case with philosophical verbal gymnastics.
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ," ...(Colossians 2:8).
IMO, TRUTH is not what we say it is, but what God says it is. You see, we are all sinners with an agenda to serve self and we will use the Scriptures to support OUR agenda...BUT, our agenda is not always Gods agenda, and there my friends is where the trouble lies. This is not just true in Christianity but in all life in general.
We, people in general uselly seek the truth but the problem is that truth is not found in human wisdom our ability. CHRIST and only CHRIST is the answer to what TRUTH is. We tend to use philosophy to try and find the truth. It will not work. Philosophy has not answere, only more and more questions. It is like a blind man, in a room painted black, trying to find a black cat that is not there.
Paul wrote in Colossians 1:30......
"But of him are ye in CHRIST Jesus, who God is made unto us wisdom".
I hope that you all remember that Jesus condemned the religious rulers of His day because they taught the traditions of men rather than the Word of God. Very frankly speaking, this is my agenda in life. I have been to the universities, and schools of higher learning. I have sat listened to the learned men of our day and that is the reason I have focused on the Word of God in my life.
I have found that it is very easy to lift out some particular passage and then ride that passage like a hobby horse. It is easy to fall in love with an AGENDA and then use a passage of Scripture to force the meaning toward an agenda. We tend to believe or someone has convinced us of a verse to validate that thinking while all the time, rejecting all the other passages which tell us something all together
differant.
I believe in prophecy 100%, but there is more to the Word of God than just prophecy.
I believe in the ability of Christians being succesful in life, but there is more to the Word of God than just prosperity.
This is, as we begin a new year, WHY I think that it is so very important for us today to STUDY THE TOTAL Word of God.