CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v7f2epw-god-focus-this-morning-ep624-not-buffet-style.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: NOT BUFFET STYLE

I grew up in a time that All You Can Eat Buffets were at the height of popularity. For one price you could go to the different areas and fill your plate with as many things as you could eat. Some would choose to have a small meal or not because there were there for the desserts.  They would have a large number of desserts, which is not healthy. Others would pile their plates down with meat. Others would be more balanced with their approach.

Some Christians try to take this approach with the Bible. Some only want the verses about how God will bless us. How he loves us and wants only good for us. They only want the desserts portion of the word. Others try to take the whole word the herbs, salad, meat and dessert. The Bible is not a buffet, we must eat the whole word.

We cannot pick a few verses and create our belief system on them. This is why we have so many denominations. What made me think of this topic? I saw an article about Thomas Jefferson. He took a blank notebook and a few bibles. He cut out just the verses he liked and glued them into his book. They said he kept Jesus’ sermons and parables but didn’t include anything about the crucifixion or resurrection. I don’t know what else he put in his version of the bible. I know that because our country gives us the freedom to choose our religion that we must choose wisely.  Not all roads lead to heaven. We cannot pick our own path and make it to heaven.

Some people today are mixing eastern religions with parts of Christianity and meditations from another religion. We have the freedom to do whatever we choose, God gives us freewill. But there is only one way to heaven and that is through Christ Jesus. It comes from taking the whole bible and eating it, even the bitter parts.

To eat God’s word means taking it all in and making it our belief system. Not just knowing it with head knowledge, but accepting it with heart knowledge. Just as natural food gives our bodies strength, the word gives us spiritual strength.

Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

We gain many things when we study the word of God. When we take all the verses in and digest them, they bring joy. His word is often sweet. But like I said earlier, it’s not a good idea to just have desserts. There are parts of the word that are hard to digest. They are bitter to our stomach. The word is full of verses that cause us to have to measure up. Change is hard, it is not easy for our flesh to let go of certain things. But the bitter part of the word is like medicinal herbs. It may not taste good but if we allow it to do the work in us, it will bring healing.

Ask yourself, are you picking verses to live by like a buffet or like Thomas Jefferson? Are you trying to live by the whole Bible in context? Pray and allow God to search your heart and then you will know, being a Christian is not like a buffet.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

• BLOG