The Biblical Path of Life

Tag: Hid

  • Search the Scriptures Daily

    “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
    Psalm 119:11

    Christians know that God’s Word is the Bible. We must also recognize the importance of using it correctly. In order to understand the correct way to use God’s Word, one must first know what it says. Each Christian should have their own personal copy of the Bible realizing the importance of not only having it, but also reading it and knowing what it says.

    How do Christian’s learn what God’s Word truly says? “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). Read the Bible, search it, and understand what it says. It is important to learn how to compare Scripture to Scripture. The Bible is the best commentary on itself!

    As one searches the Scriptures, one is to remember it and hide it in one’s heart. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). When a Christian has the Word of God in one’s heart, what are they to do with it? “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). One must allow God’s Word to direct their life. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17).

    Much as Christians are to learn how to understand God’s Word, they are to learn how to use the Word of God correctly. Christians are to recognize those who know Jesus, and to recognize true teachers of God’s Word. There are many teachers in the world. We are to listen to the ones who truly know Jesus (are Christians), teach the truth of Jesus, and live those truths out in their lives. “7. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation … 17. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:7, 17). If they teach the true Word of God, living those truths out in their lives, follow them.

    What is the most important thing we should understand about knowing and living by God’s Word?  “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5). It really does not matter what one thinks, it matters what God said in His Word. Once we understand this, we have a hope the world does not have. We know from reading the Bible that God promised Jesus from the beginning of time. God gave His Son, Jesus, to bring us to a relationship with Him. This can only be obtained by understanding the Gospel Message. “1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Why doesn’t everyone in the world understand the importance of the Gospel Message? “3. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Satan does not want anyone to know the simplicity of the Truth of the Gospel Message. That is why it is important for us to first live a life that reveals Jesus, and then tell the world what Jesus has done — so that they, too, may be saved.

    Do you search the Scriptures daily, understanding and sharing the Gospel message?

    How to be Saved

  • The Separation

    “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
    John 3:19

    While living in the garden and tending it, God gave only one command to Adam and Eve – do not eat of the fruit of one particular tree in the garden. “16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).

    Satan then entered the picture in the form of a serpent. “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan came to Eve under the guise of a serpent, and he challenged God’s Word as he spoke to Eve. He omitted some of the Word of God – just a couple of words. He questioned the Word of God. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). Eve did not trust God’s Word. Eve was deceived. She took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then gave it to Adam who was not deceived, but took of it willingly. “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14). They chose to disobey God. (Remember Proverbs 3:5-6.)

    When man disobeyed God’s command, it separated them from God. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). It was then that their eyes were opened. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7). They recognized they had sinned. Because of that sin, there was immediate separation from God. When man disobeyed God (sinned), his spirit was changed. Remember that before, Adam and Eve met with God in the cool of the day. “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8). Now, Adam and Eve hid from God. When confronted with their disobedience, they could have confessed their sin. Instead, they passed the blame – made excuses (see Genesis 3:9-13).

    Because they sinned, they hid from God. They now loved evil more than righteousness. “19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:19-20). Man was no longer perfect as when God created him. No longer innocent. They died spiritually. Man no longer possessed the same God-like character.

    After God cursed the serpent (Satan), God gave a warning and a promise of hope to all of mankind. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). There would be a constant conflict between Satan and mankind – forever. Nevertheless, God promised that the war was won from this point. For He promised to send One to deliver mankind from Satan and the punishment for sin (death: see Romans 6:23) forever. God promised to send His Son, Jesus. Jesus came and defeated Satan.

    Although God cast them out of the Garden of Eden, remember God gave the promise of redemption through Jesus. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

    Do you love the darkness or the light?

    How to be Saved