8 Top Scriptures to Avoid a Pitfall #1 Matthew 3:23-24
Number 1: “if you remember your brother or sister has something against you...first, go and be reconciled...Matthew 3:24
Do you ever feel like you're up against more than you can handle? I think we all do at times. Until the day I am ushered away from this earthly home, I will make no apologies for standing on this one soap box, taking a stand for the one most important choice we can make every day. And I am reminded of it’s importance with every trial I face. Here it is:
Go and sit down in your quiet place and allow yourself the privilege of enjoying your Creator. Do it every day.
Quiet time with God has absolutely nothing to do with checking off some legalistic box for “doing good.” God loves to meet with his children one on one, but He can love us no more or no less than how wildly crazy He loves us right now. It’s important to remember that. We sit with Him because something amazing happens (not every time, but it does happen) during this time alone with Him. When a God follower stills his mind, opens the Bible, and allows himself to receive God’s message, transformation for the better takes place. We experience the realness of God.
Would you rather that the One who made you be the one to protect you from danger and teach you how to live? Would you rather your heavenly Father instruct you in the privacy of your time alone with Him? Because God teaches us as we read his Word and pray. Or would you rather learn those uncomfortable lessons from your screw ups while under the microscope of your family and peers? Personally, I’d prefer to be corrected and challenged by God in private. When I wake up in need of an attitude adjustment, the Lord’s rebukes are far more gentle and loving than the critical lashings from the person I may be offending. Do you agree?
Here is an example of me NOT learning my lesson from God’s word and instead having to learn it from an understandably angry coworker I’ll call, “Bob”. Bob wasn’t nearly so gentle in calling me out on what I had done wrong. Earlier in the week the director of our physical therapy department asked me into his office. He was working on Bob’s annual review and he asked me questions about Bob’s performance. What I shared with the director was not going to earn this therapist any bonus points. Later that week I received a phone call at home from a very irate “Bob.” Our boss had told Bob what I had said about him. Bob’s question to me was why had I not talked first to him about the problems I was having with him? Ouch!
You know what Scripture would have steered me clear of stepping on such an embarrassing land mine (if I’d read the words and did what it said)? Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. FIRST GO AND BE RECONCILED to them; then come and offer your gift.
Clearly God thinks it’s very important that we work out our differences with other people sooner rather than later. I blew it with Bob. I had a problem with him and I did not handle my grievances in the best way. I didn’t go first to Bob. This was definitely a teaching moment for me that I have not forgotten.
What if I could have avoided that painful lesson and the harsh words from Bob? What if you could regularly avoid unnecessary land mines which you might step on when saying or doing the wrong thing? What if you could hear straight from the One who already knows how you’re wired and He knows what lies ahead of you?
You can.
The Bible is God’s blueprint, our “how to” book for living out our best life, the abundant life. It may be an ancient book but it’s principles have remained contemporary throughout time. God’s Word lives and it breathes when read. There are two different Greek words used to refer to the word of God:
Logos - (the most common of the two) is the written word recorded in the Bible, teaching us about God and his ways.
Rhema is God communicating personally with us. It’s when “the Spirit brings a scripture to our remembrance for use in time of need.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary) The Spirit’s voice speaks to our hearts just when we need it!
Rhema is the word I want us to focus on over the next several weeks. It’s my hope and prayer that I can share with you some powerful scriptures I have had to learn the hard way. I had read these specific passages of Scripture before, but I missed applying their truths when I needed to.
What lessons have you had to learn through your own “field” experiences that might have been avoided had you applied God’s Word?