It is time to hit the ground running! It is 2015, and it sure seems like time is flying! 2014 is long, long gone. 2016 may not get here. You and I might wind up in heaven with the Lord this year! That friend that truly needs the Lord Jesus Christ may not make it all the way through this year. Time is proving to be a very precious commodity more and more. How will you use your time in 2015?
This needs to be a great year of Bible study. Are you going to read your Bible front to back this year? It is a great goal to have. Reading three and a half chapters a day will allow you to accomplish that goal.
We really, really need to know this Word deep down in our system. It has to be there, so it can ooze out of us at all times. We must study and know this book.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Why is this so important? Because sadly, it is going to be another year of deception. False teaching is going to be permeating the world and presented in our churches, and if we don’t have proper Biblical discernment, we are going to be in a heap of trouble.
I was talking with a pastor this year, and he was encouraging me not to judge things. He said it was more important to look at the fruit of something. He said it is best to eat the meat and then spit out the bones! He started mentioning things like Heaven Is For Real, Joel Osteen, IHOP, and Bill Johnson. What amazed me is that all of the ministries he listed have serious problems with their theology. So my response was, No! We need to be judging things.
Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
John 7:24
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
You see, we are supposed to be judging. We are just supposed to be judging righteously. It is easy to say that those books or ministries listed above are into false teaching. Why? Because I just take what they say and compare it against the Word of God. Simple. And because many of us are not judging by Biblical standards more, it is easier for anyone or any church to fall into Biblical error.
Remember TETE: Test Everything and Test Everybody. That is a great motto to live by this year.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Driving to Christmas dinner, there was a car in front of me that had one bumper sticker that said, “Thank you God.”and another bumper sticker that said “Coexist” with all of the religious symbols on it. Well, which one is it going to be? The images on there of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all view Jesus very, very differently. So which one is it going to be? Which God are you going to thank? Are you going to use good Biblical discernment in 2015? Please, please do.
I also mentioned new believers to the same pastor. How are the new believers supposed to know what is meat and what is bones? If the pastor isn’t spending time teaching them proper Biblical discernment, then the new members of the flock are going to be in serious trouble, and it is going to be much easier for Satan, the wolf, to pick them off.
But, we seem to be in the Wild, Wild, West when it comes to Christian bookstores. Whatever is popular, whoever has a big name, whoever can sell a lot of copies; that is who we must promote. Popular equals God, so these books have to be from Him. So there is no reason to be critiquing them. Just let the Christian bookstores do my discerning for me, because they would never put anything on the shelf that is unbiblical, right?
If you live by that statement, then you sure are putting a lot of trust regarding what’s good for you and your family in some folks whom you shouldn’t. It is your responsibility to judge what should go in front of your eyes and the eyes of those around you.
2 Timothy 3:16,17
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Jude 3
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
If we have one overriding goal this year, it should be to contend for the faith! Share the truth with lost people, so that they can get saved, and share the truth of the Word of God with believers, so they don’t get pulled into any false teachings. By the way, do you love the lost and the saved enough to do just that?
Psalm 119:1-19
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
So are you going to love the Word of God more this year than you did last?
I get the feeling this is going to be another momentous year! I also already know that it is going to zoom by faster than last year did! What will you be doing for the Lord this year? Will you be making an eternal impact or just taking up space? Will any Christians be glad you crossed their path this year? Any lost people going to be able to look back at 2015 and say they were glad you chatted with them and/or gave them some material to read?
Ready? The starter pistol just went off. Time to explode out of 2014 and run the race before you with everything you’ve got! The journey of 2015 has just begun! Go!!
Until the nets are full,
