A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (March 22, 2016)
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Even though most Christians claim to believe the entire Bible as the inspired Word of God, for some reason, many times we hesitate to blindly trust in God’s Word. Even when we study the Bible, we often have a point to prove and merely use the Bible to substantiate our already established belief.
When we open the Bible, we should not have preconceived ideas. Wouldn’t it be great if we could open the Word of God, not as Baptists, not as Methodists, not as Presbyterians, not as fundamentalists, or not as Charismatics, but simply as Christians and accept clearly what God’s Word says?
It has been said that there are two things that you shouldn’t talk about. One is politics and the other is religion. When you talk about politics, people sometimes get so hostile and mad they become unreasonable. They have their opinion and nothing you can say, no logic discussed, will change their mind. Even if they know they are wrong, they won’t admit it.
Sadly, many Christians are the same way with their religious beliefs. Some get a belief and hold on to the idea as truth, regardless. We must go to the Word of God, the Bible, in prayer asking God to show us His truths and then believe what He shows us! We shouldn’t believe something just because of tradition. We must believe what God says.
Jesus said in John 8 that if we would abide in His Word then we would be His disciples and we would know the truth and the truth would set us free. How can we find the truths of God? Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
A missionary, after returning from a non-Christian country, related to me that he had seen great miracles take place. He had seen the blind healed and the lame walk in the name of Jesus. When asked why the natives received their healings so easily, he replied that the natives had nothing to unlearn. They just simply believed the Word and acted on what they believed.
We need to clear our minds of mans’ ideas and philosophies and abide in the Word of God. In these last days, God wants to teach us to be receptive to His Word. Only when we believe God’s Word enough to act on it will we receive the promises of His Word.
A man once told me that the Bible was too complicated for him to understand. He didn’t have a great education and he felt this kept him from understanding God’s Word. He went on to say that instead of reading the Bible, he just listened to preachers because he knew they must be right. Well, quite frankly, that’s goofy thinking.
If Satan can make us believe the lie, that we cannot understand the Word of God on our own, then we won’t study it. God commands us to study His Word. “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”(2 Timothy 2:15 KJV) Satan knows that without the Word there is no faith; and without faith we as Christians are ineffective.
Second Corinthians 11:3 tells us that the gospel, the good news, is not complicated, but simple. You don’t have to be a scholar. The gospel is for everyone. So, read the Word of God. Believe what you read and act on what you believe. That’s faith!
“The Word of God is so deep that the most experienced diver will never reach the bottom of it and yet so shallow that a child will not drown in it.”
