SELF DECEPTION BY NOT DOING GOD’S WORD

SELF DECEPTION BY NOT DOING GOD’S WORD

Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. —Joshua 23:6-8

And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” —Joshua 24:21

After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old. —Joshua 24:29

 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel. —Joshua 24:31

            Following Jesus is simply that, following Him.  What does that mean?  Surely, it means we are to cling to Him, listen to what He says in His Word and be strong in the grace given us and obedient to what He says.  Following Jesus is action.  Action in application to His Word’s directives.  It is not enough to say one believes.  Real belief is seen in application of belief.  Otherwise, we are just speaking words that mean nothing.

            To be not fully desiring and seeking to be obedient to God’s Word puts one in danger of syncretism— mixing one’s beliefs with other belief systems.  Discernment comes with knowing and applying God’s Word regularly—

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. —Hebrews 5:12-14

            How sad that Israel only served the Lord, they only kept His Word while Joshua and his elder peers lived— those who “had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.”  We will soon see in Judges 17:6 and 21:25 that “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”  They were doing what they desired and did not follow God’s Word.  They did not discern between good and evil because they did not train themselves to right living by living the truths of God’s Word.  Therefore, judgment fellow on them numerous times.

            We need to be aware and not be like infants being tossed around by all kinds of false teachings.  No, we need to be regularly reading and heeding God’s Word for ourselves to be “mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”  Yes, Dear Father, may we followers of Jesus live like that by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. 

“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” —Luke 6:47-49

Which house are you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfiYWaeAcRw