Truth and Consequences

What follows is a potpourri of some things that have, from time to time, troubled my spirit. When I come across something that bothers me, I try my best to research it until I believe I have found the truth. For every action, there is a reaction. In other words there are consequences, either good or bad, for every action taken. Truth will lead you to positive consequences, and falsehood will lead to negative consequences.

I have known men who could, very accurately, quote the Bible, verse by verse, and yet did not have its knowledge in their hearts. I have seen how some of these men have distorted the Word and led people astray. The Bible is replete with accounts of instances of false teaching and false prophets. I guarantee you that Satan’s forces can quote the Bible better than you can. I have also known men who were not all that well versed in scripture memorization, yet did have its teachings in their hearts, and lived by them. Could this be what Jesus meant when he said you will be known by your actions? The knowledge of the Lord is to be stored up in our hearts so that through us, by what we do and by the way we live our lives, the world can see Him.

If you have been given the truth but choose to ignore it; whatever happens to you falls on your own head. The demons know who Jesus is and choose not to follow Him because of the decision they and Satan made long ago . They also have the knowledge of scripture; therefore, they know they are on the loosing side. Satan and his minions know that they cannot win, and must be satisfied to interfere with God’s plans as much as they can before the end comes. They do know that the end of man’s time is close. You have a choice of receiving the reward that they are destined to receive, or receive Christ as your Redeemer and duck out on what you really deserve. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God . Everyone is not going to be saved. It’s not that God doesn’t want everyone to come into salvation, but rather that He knows that not everyone will accept the gift He supplied. I have heard that God sees life like a river that runs around the base of a mountain. He is on the top of the mountain and can see all of history from the beginning to the end. That includes your entire life along with all the rest of us.

By more than one witness a thing is established. That is why we have more than one gospel account (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John). Therefore by eye witnesses the account of Jesus’ life and words are established as truth. Paul said that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” . Therefore, since we have the Word of God (the Bible) and The Holy Spirit as witness; it is established that the facts of the Christ are true.

All food is good for our nourishment (this includes pork, shellfish and others). Jesus said that all food was ceremonially clean , and Peter was given the same information while on the rooftop . Paul, in Colossians, said that these rules about not eating certain foods don’t apply to Christians . If our faith is strong, we are allowed to eat anything , however, if your faith is weak, or you are interfering with the walk of a brother , we are asked to restrain our desires for the benefit of others. Everything is permissible because the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, and we are not to be condemned by others when we eat what we have thanked the Lord for . According to Paul when he wrote First Timothy; hypocritical liars will teach that you should abstain from certain foods . Enough said?

A Bible fact that bothered me for years was that it seemed that Jesus, when He called His disciples, left their families in the lurch. When Jesus called Peter, James, Andrew and John, He told them to follow him and leave everything behind . Just before He did this, He had them go back to fishing, and they returned with two boatloads of fish, to the point that they were almost sinking from the size of the load. This was a lot more than an average catch. Since these men were fishermen, it is my belief that it was done to sustain their families while the men were gone. God does supply all of our needs, if we are in His will. We do not count as loss what we give up to follow Christ because what we gain is so much more worthwhile.

There were times that Jesus would go off by himself to what the Bible calls lonely places. What we have to keep in mind is that He was here in human form and probably needed to get rested and refreshed once in a while . Even the best of us need to recharge our batteries; whether through rest or prayer.

We were first called Christian’s in Antioch , although at the time it was supposed to be an insult. It meant ‘little Christ’ and I’m sure it was said with disdain. That which was meant for evil however, has been imputed as good. These days we Christian’s are being called many things. It would be nice if once in a while something nice or true would be said. Christianity and Judaism seem to be the only religions for which there is no penalty for acting bigoted toward and ridiculing. Christian bashing has become a popular sport. It’s a good thing that the Bible has warned us to be on the lookout for this. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Rick Rahn