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To be led on level ground, that will not cause you to stumble and fall, is the psalmist’s prayer, and also the subject of our meditation, for it so invaluable in your life and mine, to do the will of God, in order to find true fulfillment, Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; And may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. [Psalm 143:10] It is the instruction of the Holy Spirit in you, that leads you on level ground. [Isaiah 28:26] God teaches you and trains you to know and to be led in the path of His will for your life.
And it all becomes possible in and through Christ, who dwells in you, when you are a child of God, to seal you with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, through which you can call God, Abba Father. It is through a relationship with God as your Heavenly Father, as a heir and co heir with the Risen Lord, that you can walk victoriously in your calling, fulfilling the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. It may have its fair share of challenges, as the devil, the world system, and the sin that lies at the root of all evil in the world, tries to keep you from knowing and walking in it. But you have God on your side; and therefore, who can be against you?
For, even as He revealed His wondrous nature to Moses through His mighty and marvelous Name’, I am that I am and I will be what I will be’, God is always present, always unchanging and always helpful. You have a Helper who will never leave you or forsake you, and with Him all things are possible. Moses had many reasons to offer to God, for not stepping forward in the path of God’s call upon his life. But the Lord Almighty, unraveled it all, in loving, faithful and persevering mercy and grace that saw Moses emerge ultimately as one of the towering leaders of the old testament, and a model that brings hope to you and I. For, he had doubts and fears to begin with, but as he proceeded in his walk with God, he grew stronger in his inner being, to ultimately end well, when it came to fulfilling God’s call on his life. And it was the finality of God’s word to him, even as Moses yielded and surrendered to it that led to it all. He ended as a great and effective leader, and more importantly as a friend of God, in the words of God Himself.
And, even in your life, no matter where you begin, as you come to God, to remain in a relationship with Him as His precious child, you will not fail, but will end well in your life. For you have a God who is not only always present, and always unchanging, He is also always helpful. He helps you in your uncertainties, your weakness of faith, to build you up in your faith, removing any vestige of unbelief that could be darkening the corners of your life, though you believe in Him.
For, HIS love for you is greater than your faith in HIM!:
God has loved you with an ever lasting and unchanging love, that has no beginning or ending. It is never incumbent on your level of faith in Him. It is the truth in which you can find your rest, when you pass through a time of weakness in faith. And it is something that can happen to each and every one of us, as we encounter the pitfalls of life, that come against us in our earthly journey.
The sin of unbelief:
‘I do believe, Lord; help thou my unbelief’. [Mark 9:24] Even as the father who came to Jesus, in order that his son may be healed, cried out, it is the sin of unbelief, that lies at the root of a person’s weakness of faith. There can always be pockets of unbelief, in a person’s life, owing to various reasons. In the life of Moses, it was because of his past record, when he had had to flee in dubious circumstances, his misunderstandings with his own people, whom he was asked to interact with again, and his inward self focus that resulted in him not hearing what God was saying to him, to remove his feeling of inadequacy. In your life and my life, it could be something else that led to it. But you have a God who is always helpful, who loves you with an everlasting love, who will remove your weakness, to make you strong.
What is unbelief ?
We need to go back to Genesis, where it all began, because we often connect sin with a particular act, and also proceed to categorize it as big and small, serious and not so serious! But God always looks at the heart of a person. Therefore, what was the sin that Adam committed, that led to him being driven out of the garden of God, where he enjoyed continual fellowship with God, for not only him, but the entire human race to suffer as a consequence of it?
Attitude precedes your action:
Before sin becomes an action, it is an attitude within a person. It is not merely the act of adultery that is a sin. Lord Jesus raises the bar in the New Testament, saying that anyone who looks at a woman with lustful eyes, has already committed adultery in his heart. And this is where the inner workings of a person’s mind comes into play, even as it did in the case of Adam, and the huge consequences of it. It was all about unbelief in the hearts of Adam and Eve, that crept in because the word of God was not given it’s rightful place.
Pre-eminence and finality of God’s word:
In the beginning was the word; the word was with God; and the word was God. It establishes very clearly the all important truth when it comes to debating within you, about what you need to believe more than anything. It is the voice of God that comes to you through His word. But it was where Adam went astray. And it remains the cause of unbelief in a person even this day.
The voice of God & other voices that come:
1. God’s word –
And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you shall freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat; for the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. [Genesis 2:16,17] God’s command to Adam came in the beginning; and it gave no room for doubt or misunderstanding. But then, the devil, the father of all lies came then into the scene, to do what he loves to do even now; which is to plant the seed of doubt, through his crafty lie .
2.The word of the devil –
Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You shall not surely die. For God knows that the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you shall be like God, knowing good and evil’. [Genesis 2:4,5] And as on that day, he remains even today, the alluring tempter, who opens before you a path that is seemingly attractive, but in the end leads to death, that is an eternal separation from God.
3. The word of other people –
Then to Adam He said, Because you heeded the voice of your wife, and ate of the tree, of which I commanded you saying, ‘You shall not eat of it, [Genesis 3:17] God here is not prescribing a blanket rule concerning ignoring the voice of your wife. For when you look at the Bible in it’s entirety, you will also find the instance where Abraham is asked to heed the voice of his wife, in sending away Hagar and Ishmael. And of course the new testament clearly talks about the husband needing to honor his wife, and love her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
The truth is about, not giving more importance to the voices of other people, and not paying heed to it, when it is not in line with God’s word. For, in the media driven, information saturated world that you now live in, many conflicting voices can arise to distract you, and take you away from God’s word, and His perfect counsel. People may say, ‘as far as I know’, but how far do they know ? They may say, ‘to the best of my knowledge’, but what is their best, when compared to the knowledge of God? God and His word, need to be the starting point therefore, in the way you perceive and approach a situation. And it is indeed quite sad, that we often find it difficult to believe God, who is always faithful, and never speaks a lie, but find it easy to believe the devil who is a liar, and is the father of lies. And sin is basically an attitude of unbelief.
4. The voice of your circumstance –
It is expressed through your feelings and facts, that are both not inherently wrong at all. But, your feelings can change from day to day. And if romantic feelings alone determine your approach to marriage and staying in it, it would not succeed. For, marriage is God’s idea and not man’s. And, being swept off your feet, and experiencing goose bumps, could soon change into something quite the opposite! Therefore, if you really want to enjoy your life, you need to go back to God’s word. Facts too can can be true, at a certain point, but when new facts come to light subsequently, it can all take on a different hue, to overturn what was previously considered to be a fact.
The unchanging word of God:
It is the word of God that remains unchanging. And it is when you turn to God, to keep His word first in your life, that He can become your ever present Helper, for whom no problem is too big or impossible. It is also why, the one who hears God’s word, and applies it, to build his life upon it, is called a wise man who builds his house upon a rock, by Lord Jesus. The opposite picture is given in the book of Judges, as it comes to an end. It is to say, In those days there was no king in Israel; and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. [Judges 21:25] But today, you and I have the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Living Word, Lord Jesus to lead us into all truth, and to reveal what is right and what is wrong. For, what needs to remain strongly embedded in you, for the rest of your life is that When you believe what is wrong, you will end up doing what is wrong, It was where the first Adam went astray, as he ended up believing a lie. But what he lost, now stands redeemed, for redemption came in the form of the last Adam, Lord Jesus. You may be born into this world with a sinful nature, as Adam’s descendant, but it is not the end of the story. Christ died on the Cross, and rose again, to now live in you, when you put your trust in Him, to be born again in Christ. His peace and truth in you, will lead you to believe what is right.
JESUS is the answer:
He truly is! Therefore, all you need to do, is to fix your eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, in order to drown out the other voices, that try to take precedence, over the word of God that comes to you, in order to lure you into the sin of unbelief. But, what is not the truth, that you need to believe, may sound very convincing, and easy to believe. And in partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what Adam did was to declare indirectly to God, that he on his own, will decide what is right and wrong, from then on. What happened in him and still continues in humanity is a dethroning of God, and enthroning of one’s own self in the heart of a person. Thus, there is something fundamentally wrong in the heart of a person.
Therefore, how can you know what is right ?
It is by going back, to begin with God and His word, with the attitude of the psalmist who declares, Therefore all your precepts concerning all things, I consider to be right; I hate every false way. [Psalm 119:128] Whatever God has said about whatever may be the case, is always and forever right, is the foundation upon which you need to build your life and all that happens in your life.
God is always right !:
It is a stand that you can take, regarding any issue in life, without an iota of doubt, and you will never ever live to regret it. And all that you will ever need to live a godly life on earth, is given in the scriptures, in the written word of God, as the apostle says, His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. [2 Peter 1:3]
His word covers it all :
The Bible does not need any updating; it is relevant and practical, giving you and empowering you with general and overriding principles concerning every area of your life. And in the epistles to the Corinthians and Romans, are laid out, God’s word concerning your relationships, as Paul says about himself, ‘I may have the right, but would it be profitable to others? I may have the right, but would it be edifying to others ? I may have the right, but I do not want to be enslaved, and in bondage to anything, or any evil power, and, I may have the right, but I would not be walking in love, if what I do is a hindrance to another person’s walk with the Lord’. [1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23,24, Romans 14:15]
In some cases, it may not say so in plain words, but the principle clearly comes through, as it does, when it mentions that getting drunk with wine is not meant for kings! And as a blessed child of God you are certainly a king and a priest! There may be people who argue that it bears no relevance, to the times we live in now, but they are sadly mistaken. For, in the beginning was the word, and it will never pass away, even when the things of the world, both ancient and modern, have come and gone! The word has something to say about every aspect and every realm of your life, About your past, that your sins have been forgiven, and removed as far as the east is from the west; About your future, that He has good plans for you, to give you a future and a hope. About your work, that He would bless the work of your hands; about your family, your finances, your health and strength, His blessing that is upon you, which would see you become a blessing in the lives of others.
And it also has an answer, to every problem that you may face in life, though what it advocates may not always be to your liking. Hagar, in the desert, heard God’s voice in her distress, to know that He would multiply her descendants, but also heard His instruction that would not have been very palatable to her at that point of her life. For, she was asked to return, and be under her mistress Sarah, who was the reason for her fleeing in the first place ! [Genesis 16:7-10]
But God is always right; and it is by believing it that transformation comes in you leading to right behavior. It is the godly character that develops in you, when you walk according to your convictions that are rooted on God’s word, not compromising for the sake of temporary conveniences, with the pattern of the world. The bottom line therefore is that, the Bible is always and completely right, from the beginning to the end, and so is the God of the Bible! And yes, without faith it is impossible to please God; but He never belittles you in your times of weakness in faith, but rather steps in as your Helper, to assuage your doubts, and cause you to grow strong in Him. And, you will be able to believe what is right, in order to do what is right.
The Scriptures opened:
To His discouraged disciples, who were downcast and full of fear, following His crucifixion, the Risen Lord appeared physically, to assure them that He had indeed risen from the dead, removing every shred of doubt in them, so that they may from then on believe what is right, and move on to do what is right. [Luke 24:36-43] And even today, He appears in visions to people sometimes, in glorious encounters, that transforms their lives. But, there is also a higher and deeper way that He opens to you and I, to remove all doubt and unbelief within us. It was what the Resurrected Lord proceeded to do in the hearts and minds of His disciples even on that day, Then He said to His disciples, ‘These are the words I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me’. And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. [Luke 24:44,45] It was much the same words that He spoke, even as He appeared to help Thomas, His disciple who doubted His resurrection, and needed physical proof of it, be rid of his unbelief.
‘Thomas’, He said, ‘Because you have seen Me, you have believed; but blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed’. [John 21:29] You and I are blessed when we believe in the word of God that declares Lord Jesus to be risen from the dead, and to be seated at God’s right Hand, now and forevermore. The primary way therefore, in which the Lord helps you to believe what is right, is to open the eyes of your heart, to give you understanding regarding the truth of the scriptures.
Launching into the deep:
And understanding the scriptures, is going deeper than merely what it appears to be on the surface. It is much like what you need to do, when you switch it on, but the light does not shine, as it usually does. You then need to probe deeper into the cause of the malfunction, in order to set it right.
The true Vine – the deeper understanding:
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, is the promise of God’s word; and a vine plant, as is commonly observed needs a support to lean upon, in order to flourish and bear fruit. Thus, the wife needing a good support system at home, and especially, in her spouse, in order to be fruitful, is the simple truth. But going deeper in the understanding of the scriptures, one can know that Christ is the true vine, and bearing much fruit comes as you abide in Him, and He in you.
The Lord – your Maker:
In the days when owning a car was a rarity, a man was struggling on the road with his car, which was giving trouble, when some one came walking by foot to him, offering help; and then to the doubting and unbelieving owner of the car, who doubted his capability, he introduced himself as Henry Ford, the one who had invented it!
The Lord – your Helper:
And today, the One who helps you go deeper into God’s word, is right beside you, giving you the understanding of the truth, to lead you into right belief that results in right behavior; one that yields a harvest of righteousness, for the Father’s glory.
The Lord has promised good to you:
His word your hope secures; He will your shield and portion be, as long as life endures. May He do His wonderful work of amazing grace in your heart, this day, and in the days to come, that you may believe His wonderful truth, to be led in His paths of righteousness, and be transformed, as you know Him, in whom you have put your trust, more deeply and gloriously, to partake of the riches of His wondrous inheritance, His unending mercy and love for you.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
