Contrary to this world’s belief, there is only one true God, and it does not take very much intellect or faith to accept or to prove it (John 17:3). Denial is only the expression of arrogance and pride and places the perpetrator upon extremely unstable ground.
Corruption of the heart and mind has reached epic proportions, and we no longer reason on those things that are righteous and holy; we only seek to condemn them. Stating that there is only one true God is not an attempt at showing anything other than a sustainable truth. Much of what is believed today is simply men’s ideas accepted through lack of intelligence and unsupported theory. Ceremony has become so repetitive that we accept it because it is the only thing we know. True worship does not leave the heart cold and unfulfilled. It does not leave the heart empty but assures it of true hope and promise. What good is accomplished in the worship of the dead; and, without life, where are we to find anything joyful? Why would a loving God promote hatred and intolerance to things that are honest and honorable? Tradition or ritual does not give true worship; and, to show true praise, you cannot exempt the heart. This is the way it has been done for years, and to remain comfortable in our actions, we will continue to do it for the next hundred years. Many tasks do not have a preferred or required way to be performed. True worship is found in the attitude of the heart and not by repeatedly uttering unrecognizable words or phrases. While God does require reverence and a just heart from them that worship Him, He will accept all adoration that is offered in true humility. “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
I have concluded that tradition does not always promote accuracy and expedience; and, in many ways, can be a detriment or become destructive. Just because you do not feel the pain of disobedience now, does not remove its surety in the unforeseeable future. God will demand accountability for all actions, righteous or evil. Life is filled with many unexpected events, and we have no control over them. How do you propose to cast off those things about which you have been warned? God demands obedience; but, in our worship of Him, He is longing to see genuine love and repentance. Showing true compassion is not accepting or being tolerant to the lies of the devil. Satan has so deceived this world that we seek to follow his bidding. We have been enslaved by the evil principles of our cunning adversary and have failed to see the destruction of his underhandedness. So many things are easily understood. “God hath said,” should leave no room for discussion; only transmit the importance of what He is saying. If we are to accept the undeniable fact that God is who He says He is, the rest becomes relatively simple. The expression will be, “Thy will be done,” and not become a discussion of what, when, and why we should do it. “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:20-21).
There are just so many human characteristics that do not apply to God. First, He is God and He cannot sin. He cannot be ignorant of the facts on any topic or situation for He knows it all. He cannot be arrogant or prideful because these are two of the things that His Word says He hates the most. He can never be wrong. He is the originator, the creator of all things. To understand God, I had to think of Him as a father, a very good father in every sense of the word. In His Word He tells us, “God is love.” As an example that He has provided, it tells us of his willingness to die for His creation. It tells us of so many things the He has provided for our well-being and even our pleasure. I have spent many hours thinking about how good He has been to me and to my family, but after doing so, I had to enlarge my thinking and include the whole world in my thoughts. Every good thing or blessing that He has given me He has made available to all of His creation. Being God, He knows all of my needs and has promised to provide them for me. Contrary to a worldly belief, there are many absolutes; and there is no amount of human input that will ever change it. The discussion of whether there is a God or whether there is only one true God is idle talk. It can never come to any other final, unequivocal conclusion but that He does exist and that He is the one and only true sustainer of this universe. Satan knows this, and he is willing to waste our time in idle discussion, knowing that those things of real substance have been set aside. The truth will always speak for itself, but this world is so saturated with lies that it sometimes becomes difficult to find a true and honest answer. The only complete and unaltered truth is found in God’s Holy Word. What He has said, we are to follow. Is there any surprise Satan would want to alter or destroy what is written in God’s Holy Word? Why should we need to correct or make more understandable what God has already written, what God has considered perfect? What could God do if we were totally committed to Him and His Word? Is not true wisdom from God?
Could we not use the excuse of it being difficult to understand as a reason to tamper with its importance? God’s Word was written, for the most part, to those who have accepted Him, His children; but He has also allotted space to express His love for all humanity. Have we, who believe in Him, become so accustomed to the way things are that we do not see their total depravity?
God has not given me the right to condemn or ridicule. In His purpose, He has chosen me to express His undying love, to carry His Word to a world that is dying without Him. In the grief and suffering of others, where am I to find solace? God’s love has shown me that I must identify with the pain and sorrow of others. If I am unwilling to care, where am I to find true compassion? If I am unwilling to show compassion, how am I to become a friend? Not to become a friend of the world, but a friend to those who need to know of God’s love for them. How am I to help those who consider me their enemy? What good am I if I cannot show the love of God through my living or express His unending grace through my actions? God’s Word is an instruction book to guide and instruct His people in the ways of righteousness. The many principals and the instructions offered are for those who seek to honor and worship God. That is not something the lost seek to do. There are many verses that lead unregenerate men to the Savior, but many more verses tell the saved of His assurance and promises. The Holy Word of God is divinely translated and is explained by the Holy Spirit. How are the unsaved to understand when they do not have Him abiding within their hearts? The Holy Spirit is given to all who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Without this transformation, man is lost and does not understand the many things of God. The Bible says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). God’s Word also states, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
No matter how God’s Word has been expressed, it cannot be understood without the presence of the Holy Spirit. The many promises God has given are to His children and not to those who are lost. The term lost refers to all those that have not accepted His unending grace. Being a part of God’s family is only obtained by your complete, never-ending trust and faith in Him. Salvation is not obtained by just saying that you believe there is a God but by believing in His Son and allowing Him to make you a new person. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Becoming a new creature is an act of completeness; it is not a cover-up, but as the Bible calls it, a new birth. (John 3:3) “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To be a part of God’s family you must willingly accept Him and all that He has required. Compromise is not sustainable; to surrender is considered the only option. God’s only promise directed to the lost is that He will save them if they ask His forgiveness. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). God’s intent excludes no man, but man, in his arrogance and unbelief, has excluded God. If we who have been saved by His marvelous sacrifice do not tell others of His love, how will they learn of Him?
Many of the religions of today are built around man and his understandings and preferences; they allow the influence of this world to dominate. They do not take into account the ability to love, only to demand and punish. Sacrificing to a god who does not exist cannot bring about a desirable action or condition. Superstition and the fear of the unknown result in foolish behavior and consequences. The one and only God of the universe has made His truth known; but, in the eyes of the foolish, He is only one of many. Lies and the perversions of the evil one have caused many to doubt and have condemned their souls to that place of eternal torment. “But he shall say, ‘I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity’” (Luke 13:27). God does exist, and He is sovereign and all-powerful. It doesn’t matter whether we want to believe it or not; you cannot rationalize away the truth. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4). This world sees the truth of God as a spoiler, a requisite for control and confinement. Slanted by Satan, not wanting to be restricted, they refuse to take God at His purest intent and devise all sorts of vain imaginations and probable possibilities. When tracing all gods to their origins, sinful man is found attempting to pervert and alter the truth of God’s Word. “‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,’ saith the Lord, ‘which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:8).
No matter how drawn out or how unmercifully we try to destroy the truth of God’s Word, it still exists. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20-21). God has promised to protect His infallible Word and to maintain it to the very end. How can you destroy something that is a fundamental, essential part of its being, without destroying its whole existence? If God had not spoken it, by His Word, we would not exist. To Satan and his followers, proving God’s reality is not key; it is His reality that has made Him their enemy. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
God’s Word has no intent but to save, to give life to the spiritually dead and to bring hope to the hopeless. It does not seek to enslave but only to liberate. Why is it so difficult to convince men that God exists when it is so easy for them to doubt? Doubting will cause them great loss while believing will give them total victory. In believing, we have only God’s love to make true salvation possible; we have been given that right and responsibility of choice. God will not force His desires upon anyone. The devil is not as considerate. In doubting, we have the evil forces of a thousand demons intending our doom. God has no fight that He cannot win, nor is there any circumstance or probability, that challenges Him. His control is absolute, and His power is unequaled. All of the nonsensical issues of this world are allowed for our perfecting, to help us mature and grow. Knowing the truth and allowing it to guide and direct us makes us become what He wants us to be. As God’s light is allowed to shine upon the foolishness of this world, we are able to see things as they actually are. The precious things in this life are not kept with the worthless, and our treasures are not secured with the insignificant. Many times, we do not see things the way they truly are, and place value in those things that are really unimportant. If we see God for who He really is, we will be assured of victory; we will be assured of the true treasures of life. The reason He has allowed me to see His truth is not for my edification alone; it is for all those I will affect by my willingness to serve. God has shown me that I am not writing to fill a hundred pages, but am only writing to say those things that need to be said. Whether I am to be used of God or to be set aside is not a question for me to answer. My true value is not found in the things of this world but in those things that are eternal. My true mission is to honor and to serve the one who has lovingly given Himself for me. I do not honor God for fear of retribution but because He is worthy of my praise. He is the only God that I need; He is the only God I will serve.
The problem today is our lack of commitment to a worthy cause. There are still many people who believe in the truth of God’s Word, and God has not been diminished in any way. We are simply not willing to pay the price. It takes only one match to burn down a whole community; and, if we were truly serious about our concern for souls, the fire we could set would be just as widespread. A million souls, without God’s support, will accomplish nothing; but one soul, being led by the Holy Spirit and willing to do whatever it takes, can accomplish the unthinkable. Why have we allowed ourselves to be drawn into the mundane and ordinary? Why do we think ourselves worthless or unimportant? God has given every one of us a purpose. It is time that we claim His victory and allow Him to use our lives to bless those who are in need of His salvation.