This seems to have become more common than I can ever remember in my life. We see this constantly in every facet of life today. We joked a few years ago that if it was on the internet it must be true when someone would make an outlandish comment. Today it is taken by many that if it is there on the internet it must be true. Soundbites and snapshots have taken over our world.
When people are consuming so much information each day it becomes difficult to validate and confirm the information. Accuracy is lost and incorrect information is then shared and consumed as true. When in fact it may well be completely incorrect.
A familiar term today is reliable sources. If you know what you believe and have confidence in it then you can correctly know what a reliable source is for you. The reason this is important is that we all have to navigate this life each day. With all that is there for us to know and hear, it is important to have sources that we can rely upon for information. Where and from whom are we receiving the information? What is a reliable source?
As Christians, we have the ultimate reliable sources to navigate our lives. It is incumbent that we avail ourselves of them. To not do so we place ourselves and those we love in precarious situations. When we access the resources provided to us we can not only know what to think but what to do.
We have access to our heavenly Father through prayer. Paul said in Hebrews 4:16 to-
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Having access to God is something that every believer has to draw upon each day. Elaine and I were watching an episode of The Chosen and it was in the first season. Jesus is near Capernaum in the scenes and is living by Himself out in a tent. In several of the scenes, He is lying down at night in the tent. He begins to pray while He lies there before going to sleep. I found those scenes so refreshing because each night as I lie down and prepare to go to sleep I pray to my Heavenly Father just like my Savior prayed to His Father.
This access is provided through His own Son Jesus Christ who is our Savior and Lord. Jesus Himself said as we see in John 14:6-
..."I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
God has given each of us His abiding Holy Spirit to provide direction and insight as to how we should live. In Ephesians 4:13-14 we learn that-
13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
The opportunity we have to go to God is because of His Son and what He did in redeeming us from our sins. His life, death, and glorious resurrection provide us all access to God as we have believed in our hearts and confessed with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord as Paul reminded those in Rome.
The Word of God provides us access to His thoughts, ideas, and examples of how He has worked in the lives of His people throughout time. Mark 13:31 affirms to us that-
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
The Word of God whether Old or New Testament allows us to know and understand God's expectations. How to live and to handle what we face in life. As I read Scripture each day, although I am reading history, I am reading and understanding how God thinks and responds to His creation, which we are, and men and women. We are provided the opportunity to have insight in to what God expects from us as we love this life.
Life is hard and Scripture provides us with the understanding as to why that is when we read Genesis 3:16-19 God said-
16 And he said to the woman, “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him.”
17 And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you.
18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants.
19 You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”
You're smart enough to see that the result of the original sin is what has put you where you are today. We don't know what this world would have been like without original sin but we can know for certain it would have been better than what we have today. So make sure you are seeking the true reliable source.
In God's Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
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