The Word of God, The Real Deal

Sometimes I, like most of us, have doubts that come into my mind about my experience with God. When these doubts surface (and I believe they come from the enemy of our souls, the devil) I go back to the Bible for a refresher course. I find that what happened to me also happened on the "Day of Pentecost" as recorded in Acts 2:1-4 and it has not changed. You might think it silly to think that the Word of God would ever change. But when I surrendered to the Lord Jesus in June of 1965 after He, in unutterable tones of love, said to me to make Him my choice, I said to Him that day, "Lord Jesus, if you will help me I will serve you from this day to the day I die," He immediately cleansed my heart of all its filthiness and said to me, "Read My Word and start in Matthew." I obeyed and have read His Word from that day to this and have always found the help I needed to live for Him.

Let me say without equivocation, the Word of God is the real deal. The Bible says in Psalm 33:4, "For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth." The Word of God is the only way that we can know how or what God thinks. In Isaiah 55:8-9 the Bible says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." The Apostle Paul asked in 1st Corinthians 2:16, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?"  Other than His Word, we cannot know what is the mind of God. Paul went on and said, "But we have the mind of Christ." Thank God for His Word that tells us that He is not willing that we perish but that we repent. (See 2nd Peter 3:9) The Word of God is the mind of Christ! It is the real deal!

Repentance is not a suggestion! In Acts 17:30b The apostle told the men of Mars Hill that God "now commandeth all men every where to repent..." (Again we know that we should repent only by the Word of God). Paul went on and told them in Acts 17:31 that God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Thank God for His Word! It is the real deal. I recently said on Facebook that I was glad I was Pentecostal. I am glad only because of the Word of God telling me of the Pentecostal experience in the Book of Acts.

I read the New Testament through the week I was converted and am glad that the Lord Jesus never allowed me to be confused when I was asked if I wanted to be baptized in Jesus name. I knew nothing of the so-called doctrine of the trinity or baptism in the titles. I had not been to church yet (I converted on a Monday and either had read the Book of Acts or was in the process) and did not go to a church service until the Friday after I was baptized. And I am glad that when I did start to attend church on the following Sunday that they preached from the Word of God of my need to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

I am also glad for the Word of God telling me that there is judgement to come. In 2nd Corinthians 5:10 the Word of God tells me that "...we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." I am again reminded of the Christmas season song I heard as a child about Santa Claus, some of the lyrics are as follows. "...he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake..." Well I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore but I do believe in the Lord Jesus. And I believe, because the Word of God tells me so, that there is coming a day when we shall all stand before Jesus Christ, the One mentioned in Acts 17:31 who, "will judge the world in righteousness..." And it will be righteous judgement.

I am made to think of the scripture found in 1st John 3:2-3, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." The Word of God doesn't say we should purify ourselves but that if we have the hope of Jesus return in us we will purify ourselves, "even as he is pure." I don't know what that means to you but to me it means to live as close to God as I can, in all my words and deeds. To live my life to be pleasing to the Lord Jesus in all of my motives and actions. And to trust the Lord Jesus to lead me in every decision I make. 

Let me conclude this little essay by saying to you, the reader, that it doesn't really matter what men may think of you. Our lives are, "a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (See James 4:14b)  So are the lives of all men. What will really count in the end when "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ," (See Romans 14:10) is have we pleased God! So I encourage you to live your life in a manner that is in accord with what God thinks, the Word of God. It is the Real Deal.