The Omagh Church of Christ

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he can not understand them, because thay are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by know man" (1 Cor 2:14-15). One man's trash is another man's treasure, we sometimes say. It all depends on your point of view. And so it is in the realm of the Spirit. Spiritual men understand the things of the Spirit. Worldly men don't. In fact they can't, as long as they have a worldly view.

Two men look into the sky, one sees the handy work of God, the other an inexplicable accident. People miss God not because he is hard to find but because He is hard to please. Just anything won't do for a Holy God, so many give Him up rather than their pleasures (Rom 8:18-32). Of course that won't be their explanation for it. The mind that God created is much to rational for that. All men are able to understand that if there is a being who made the world, than He ought to be obeyed and worshipped. The conscience of man won't allow for a contradiction and so dissapproval from God, must be banished out of one's mind.

Who is this natural man who can not understand the things of God. For sure he is a sinner but he is something more, for all men are sinners. This man refuses to see other than through the eyes of man's pleasure and wisdom. Refusing to see from another point of view shows an unwillingness to change. Change and repentance are what is at the heart of understanding God's truths. Jesus identified this when He responded to the Jews, who had asked for His teaching credentials. "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know the teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I speak of Myself" (John 7:17).

God's word is targeted by God at man's heart to change and renew that heart to a life of love from the heart. It's two main goals are a love for God and a love for others. This love is not natural, it is learned. Therefore change (repentance) is essential.

Repentance is good news. God has given both Jew and Greek the gospel which is the agent of change. But what kind of heart handles such news? Obviously, only the heart that is willing to cooperate. Thousands of hearts handle the truth but only a few subjugate themselves to it.

To handle the bible with the heart is to test our willingness to repent. If there is no willingness the rational mind has three options. First, to live with guilt and conflict. Second, To change the message to agree with our actions and behaviours. Third, to subordinate ourselves to the truth. Jesus said, "For judgement I came into thgis world, that those who do not see may see; and those who see may become blind" (John 9:39).

Why should there be so much concern over handling the bible in the right way? Why must be be so careful to teach and preach and practice only what the word of God says, no more no less? Why should a local church make sure that all it does is authorized in the scriptures? Why should there be so much fuss about how we handle the scriptures? People who put so much emphasis on careful bible interpetation and application are often called "legalists" by those that do not see the importance of such. But those that practice strict bible interpetation are simply being loyal to the truth.

From the very beginning, when God began to reveal himself and his will to man, God told man how he wanted man to show devotion to God. At Mt. Sinai , Jehovah said that he was a God who was willing to ". . . show mercy to thousands, to those who love me, and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20:6). Jesus said, " . . . If you love me keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Finally, the Apostel John wrote, "For this is the love of God , that we keep his commandments . . . " (1 John 5:3). Do you see the pattern? To love God means to faithfully obey his word! There is an inseparable link between your attitude toward God and your attitude toward his words. If you love and respect God you will love and respect his word. David said God's word was his delight (Psalm 119:77).

Some will try to sever the link between loving God and loving his word and respecting the bible. The religious liberal does so by loving God but rejecting the bible and it's claim of inspiration. The religious fundamentalist does so by paying lip service to belief in God and divine origin of the scriptures, but refuses to do only that which the bible authorizes. Some who even claim to be New Testament christians are showing disregard for God by loosening what God has given in His word by a new interpretation calling it the "New Hermeneutic." You can not have respect for God and disrespect his word!

Let us never neglect to realize, nor to teach the reason for careful bible study and strict application are important. It is vital that we show how to establish bible authority for all that we do, but it is just as important to show why that must be so amoung God's true followers. The point is not that we worship the bible, but rather we worship and serve God when we obey what the bible has to say, which is exactly how God has asked us to love and honor him.

I love my dad and when I was a kid I did not want to disappoint him in any way. Those of us who claim to be christians should develop that same attitude toward our heavenly father. Our chief concern should be to want to please him and the last thing should be to disappoint him.

How can we ensure God's favor? "Give diligence to show thy self approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).

Have you ever noticed as your driving around or walking that plants and trees seem to grow out of some strange places like on the side of a rocky cliff or a flower has made a home growing out of a log or a weed grows up through concrete? the seeds of these plants were not placed there by men. They were dropped there by birds or blown there by the wind. And there, where they have managed to end up, they have found a place to grow! Finding enough soil, light and water, they have bloomed where they have been planted.

We can learn a valuable lesson from this act of nature. Life does not often turn out the way we imagine it should. We work hard to create our own beautiful flower bed of life. But the birds of adversity drops us sometimes were we do not wish to be dropped or the winds of trial blow us to another location.

It maybe that we have been blown upon the cliffs of physical handicaps. Failing health at a young age, blindness, eating disorders are all seeds  that no one wants to be planted in but often are.

It might be that family problems are to be ours. The death of a child or mate, is a road none wish to walk. It is heart sickening pain that no one envies. Family members might dispise you because of your faith in Jesus Christ, job transfers, parents in nursing homes, getting caught in a company down sizing are often places where our seeds are sown. And who would have thought about hundreds of thousands being displaced by an act of nature, everything gone!

Our cliffs maybe church problems. Discouragement, church fights, feeling out of touch with everyone else, are hard situations that we have not planted but yet we find ourselves blown into them. The lesson of all of this is to bloom where you have been planted.

Paul understood this concept. Paul had converted some of Caesar's household (Phil 4:22). This was only after years of imprisonment, rough seas, and various other trials. Had Paul quite or become bitter, those Romans would have never heard the gospel. Paul was blooming in that enviroment. On another occasion, he wanted to go to Asia but God would not allow it (Acts 16:6-8). Paul did not sit down and pout but rather went to Phillipi and started a congregation that is a model for all to follow. Still another time Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to buffet him, he prayed to God three times to have it removed. God said, "No." Paul bloomed where he was planted.

There are always things I can do! There are many things you can not do in prison, but there were things he could do. How about singing and praying, setting an example. Queen Ester understood God had planted her for a reason (Ester 4:13-14). You might be around sour people just to show them the happiness there is in Christ. You may be in difficult places just to change them to better ones. Often the easiest road is not the best road. We may want God to remove the problem, but God keeps us there to show beauty in an otherwise ugly place.

God is counting on us. I am God's tool (1 Cor 3:5-9). I maybe the one, though bedfast in a hospital that may lead one to Christ. I can do that if I bloom where I am planted. Do not waste your life away by wishing you were planted in a better garden. That may not be your lot in life. You might be the only flower on that wind blown cliff, but God says to us "There is know reason why you can't bloom where you have been planted."