Corona Devo 1123

Earlier this year, in one of their middle school Bible study group meetings, our daughter passed out notecards and asked the kids to write down any questions that they might have about the Bible or God (and they spent the next couple weeks discussing the Biblical answers to those questions.)

Their questions were interesting and possibly tell-tale of today's youth, who seem to have every other truth pushed-on-them and forced-to-be-accepted-without-judgment, except for God's Truth.  The Bible (these days) is deemed one-sided, out-dated and downright intolerant by most other "truth-tellers" of today's culture.  

But, Friends...you and I and everyone--knows deep down inside that there can be only one truth.  And you and I did not create it.

So, just as one middle schooler scribbled across a notecard the other day, we might ask the same question today: How can we know what God says?

The first and most direct answer to this question can be found on a shelf in most of our homes, and there are probably even multiple copies standing at attention, waiting to be called upon: Read the Bible!  

The Bible is the primary way that God speaks to us, and everything that He wants us to know/live by-and love-by can be found in those 66 Books that begin with when He created the world (Genesis) and end with His foretelling of the coming-end of this world and the eventual eternal reign of His perfect Kingdom (Revelation).  

It's all in there!  And while the Bible might have been written 2,000 years ago...those words speak into our hearts and over the situations that we are experiencing right now.  There is an intangible peace, comfort, discipline and hope for us in those pages.

But there are also many tangible Truths in the Bible, and reading the Bible tells us (exactly) what God says.  No interpretation, addition, or updating/modernizing needed.  There are the Ten Commandments, which most of us know, but just today, as I read 1 Corinthians, I learned exactly what God says about how to handle disputes. 

When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! (2) Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world?...  (3) ...So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. (4) If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? 

(5) I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? (6) But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!  

(7) Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? (8) Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.  

(9) Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, (10) or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. (11) Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.   ~I Corinthians 6:1-11  

Most of the topics discussed here are beyond middle-schoolers--it's for us.  

God has given us His Word to guide us in many situations, and even specific situations, like how to know what He says to do when a Believer wrongs us.  Who to go to, how to behave, or just to accept it. (Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated?  ~I Corinthians 6:7)  Our pride, our ego, our hurt doesn't want to hear that...but what does God say?

He says a lot actually.  The Bible will tell us how to handle everything that comes our way...if we will read it.  

The Bible isn't some dusty book that was shelved due to lack-of relevance.  God speaks to us through His Word, and it is relevant: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

~~~

It's not just middle-schoolers that wonder: How can we know what God says?  It's us too!  We have questions, scenarios, problems---and we have hurts that we don't know what to do with.  

But God does.  

How can we know what God says?  Read the Bible and ask God for His wisdom to understand it and to implement it in our hearts and our lives.  

That's the truth about God's Truth, and there is freedom in knowing what He says.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. (32) Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  ~John 8:31-32

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com