So what do you consider to be your ‘north star’?

You know...that ‘fixed point’ in your life that helps you navigate where you are going. It’s that one ‘constant’ that you can always rely on to help you find your bearings.

Centuries ago, long before GPS devices were a ‘thing’, ship captains relied solely on their navigators and their trustworthy instruments that helped them traverse those vast oceans in their search for new lands. And it was universally known that Polaris, (the North Star) was always a fixed point that never moved. The image I used today (I did not take that) is what is known as star trails where a photographer sets up a camera on a tripod and shoots a series of long exposures. But they first focus in on the north star which will not ‘move’ as the earth rotates. But all the other stars do (seemingly) which creates the circular motion of that movement. Kind of neat, is it not?

For the Christian believer who professes a faith in Christ Jesus as their Lord, the Bible is our ‘north star’, our ‘fixed point’ in which we use (or should along with the Holy Spirit) to navigate through this world we are passing through. That’s not a bad thing to be familiar with, God’s word...given Jesus declared that the ‘heavens and the earth will pass away but His word will never pass away.” (Matt. 24:35; 1 Pet. 1:23-25)

And it’s easy to take our eyes off that fixed point too. We’ve all done it. We find all these other inspiring books and devotionals and commentaries and podcast and YouTube videos and favorite preachers, etc. But nothing should ever take the place of our hunger and study for God’s word – including these posts I share with you daily.

Something I find interesting these days...when I do come across others who are teaching or preaching...is the amount of words they tend to use, in comparison to God’s words. Have you ever noticed that? Seems they find all kinds of creative ways of ‘sharing’...using movies and TV shows and song lyrics and funny antidotes and personal experiences and opinions. But just not very much scripture. Why do you suppose that is?

Has God’s word become that archaic and irrelevant?

Or just maybe too hard to understand. Or is it possible that that His word just does not ‘fit’ the agenda of our hearts and lives and so over time, we find ourselves diluting it, tweaking it, finding ways to explain why it does not mean what it says. Then, before we know it, it is more of a ceremonial collection of nice sounding words but certainly not worthy of using as a ‘lamp unto our feet’ to guide us in a world of darkness.

And yet, the word of God is the ‘incorruptible seed by which we are cleansed with and born again by. (Eph. 5:26; 1 Pet. 1:23). It is not the words of men that ‘works effectively in’ us, but God’s word. (1 Thess. 2:13)

Why do you think the enemy is so adamant to ‘come immediately to snatch God’s word from our hearts...lest we believe and are saved?” (Luke 8:12; Mark 4:15). What does he know that we seemingly are ignorant of when it comes to God’s word?

Why do we allow a plethora of other ‘foods’ to feed our soul while we neglect the very thing that Peter admonished us to “desire that we may grow thereby?”(1 Pet. 2:2)

Friends...this is not about trying to make you feel guilty so you get up earlier every morning so you can read more chapters in your Bible, forcing your way through, like a parent might force a young child to eat their now cold vegetables on their plate that they have a disdain for.

And why is it we are so easily offended...by the Word? Has God really said...what He said?

His Word...is truth! (John 17:17)

Jesus came that we might ‘know the truth and that the truth would set us free’! (John 8:32)

You have an enemy who is bent on keeping you as a slave, in captivity to do his will, not God’s. (2 Tim. 2:25-26).

And Jesus told us, ‘most assuredly...whoever commits sin is a slave to sin.’. (John 8:34)

You should also know that God means what He says. - If you ‘eat off this tree, you will surely die’! (Gen. 2:17). Then comes the ‘serpent’ raising his rebellious head, that same ‘spirit’ who works in those who have yet to come to Jesus with all their hearts. (Eph. 2:1-3). That enemy is offended by the word of God and refutes it at every turn: “Has God really said that? That is not what He mean...in fact, what He was really saying according to all my studies and commentaries is that you can actually do just the opposite of what God says and you will surely not die.” (Gen. 3:1-5)

When you read through those early 12 chapters of Deuteronomy, we see where God told His people over and over and over...to heed His word, keep His commandments and observe and do all that He told them to do...’so that it would go well for them.’ Yet, we are told today by the ‘experts’ that God did not really intend for His people to obey Him...rather...just be willing and do your best.

Not much has changed given we hear that same line by so many who claim to be ‘in the know’ when it comes to the word of God. Jesus said ‘Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect’. (Matt. 5:48). Yet we scoff and roll our eyes and say “Impossible!”

Jesus is recorded telling those He came across to ‘Go, and sin no more’. Yet, we scoff, and roll our eyes and say “Impossible”.

Scripture makes it clear that ‘whoever abides in Him ought himself to walk just like Jesus walked...and that those who do will no longer sin.” (1 John 2:6; 3:6,9). And still, we scoff and roll our eyes and say: “Impossible”.

The Holy Spirit spoke through Peter as he wrote and admonished us to “Be holy in all our conduct, even as He is holy”. (1 Pet. 1:15-16). And of course, we scoff and roll our eyes and tell ourselves we can never be holy enough for God...even when we are reminded that ‘without holiness, no one will see God’. (Heb. 12:14)

I have shared the story here in the past about the time when we first moved in to our first rent home here in NE Texas 34 years ago. Folks from our church came to help us unload the truck and wouldn’t you know it...our fridge was just under an inch too tall to fit under that upper cabinet. So a young man went out to his truck, came back with a small sledge hammer and just beat the bottom shelf out of that cabinet in a flurry of splinters before heaving our fridge up underneath the now ‘remodeled’ cabinet.

How often do we do that with God’s word because it does not ‘fit’ the way we want it to fit with our lives, lives that are supposed to be ‘laid down and put to death’? Surely most of us know when we are assembling something that has many parts and pieces, that ‘forcing’ something in to place is usually not the right call.

Is it remotely possible that when we come across scripture that is not fitting with our pre-conceived ideals, opinions, and beliefs...that just maybe ...it’s us...that needs to make the adjustment and not God’s word?

When Jesus laid down some pretty hard sayings...we often hear in response by those He spoke to...”How can these things be?” Then, He would add: “With men, it’s impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”

Sadly, we have refused to even give God a chance to ‘do the impossible’ in our lives because we have basically called Him out to be a liar and tell Him His word is bogus. That’s what the Israelites did out in the wilderness shortly after they returned from spying out the promised land. And God was not pleased at all. (Numbers 13-14). Why Paul even points out how God dealt with that rebellious group and makes it a point to warn us that those things were written down as warnings for us today. (1 Cor. 10:4-11)

As powerful and effective as God’s word is, we, by our rebellious unbelief, can actually make the word of ‘no effect’. We do that, when we hold on to man’s traditions after laying aside the word of God. (Mark 7:13). Why,... do we not read where Jesus did ‘few miracles because of their unbelief?” And for “this reason...God will send a delusion that they might believe a lie because they did not have a love for the truth”. (2 Thess. 2:9-12)

Why...should we be standing on the unshakeable, unchanging word of God? Because the heavens and the earth will pass away...but the word of the Lord will endure forever. And we see in Revelation how the great serpent will once again, rise up and ‘spew water out of his mouth that he might carry God’s people away...like a flood’. (Rev. 12:15). What comes out of ‘mouths’? Words...words...words.

Has God really said? Why that is not what He meant now. Surely you know God can’t do that!

Friends...when we are simply ‘hearers of the word, but not doers’...we deceive ourselves. And ‘great will be our fall’. (James 1:22; Matt. 7:24-27)