One Way-Jesus

Choices, choices!!

 

Rev. Sudha Mehta MA©

I entered the Ministry in the mid-eighties with the Assemblies of God. Although the Lord has led in ways I never imagined, I am and always will be a Pentecostal. I believe in the full Gospel, and that the Bible is fully relevant even today. I believe The Word of God to be relevant for every age, and that it is the “Living” Word, not dead. The gifts have not ceased, healings are not over, prophesy and word of knowledge along with deliverance are not things of the past. Tongues are for today just as they were then. I believe men get in the way of the flow of the Holy Spirit, and often for their lack of faith, or just plain a lack of understanding, miracles don’t happen.

I believe the Bible translates and confirms itself in the text. When it is an allegory or a metaphor, the text makes it clear. In keeping with that is my belief that the Bible is to be taken literally and that it is without error. It is timeless and just as relevant today as it was then. The sacred truth it holds and reveals to the seeker is not to be changed, or twisted to suit the “times” or the “culture.” In fact , doing so, brings a curse upon the translator.

I also believe that God Himself explains His thoughts in words better than any of us can do. I have a particular distaste for transliterations  and paraphrases of Bibles that merely masquerade as the Word of God when they are in fact full of error. Suffice it to say that I prefer to stay the older Bibles which tend to be truer. I use other resources such as Bible Dictionaries, Concordances, Commentaries etc. when needed, but none without prayer for guidance.

God, who lives outside of time as we know it, sees us in the continuum of time. When He gave the Word He was not limited to age, era, or location. Being Omniscient and Omnipresent, He knows all and sees all. He spoke what He wanted for the benefit of ALL mankind that have ever lived anywhere and at anytime.

So, unless, He chooses to cancel it, the things He said remain the same. My Bible says;

Heb. 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

The only choice I have is to believe it or not. Yes, you have the same choice.

Here is the way I see it: if I choose to believe some things and not others, I by default am stating the Bible contains error, and I make myself the arbiter of truth and falsehood. There is no way, I would be guilty of such arrogance, would you? That, in fact is the trap Satan laid for Eve, and well, the results speak for themselves.

Titus 1: 2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; 

2 Tim. 3: 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The Bible text itself tells me that the Word of God is without error. So, if I choose to not believe it, I state that God lied when He spoke. Now if He lied in one thing, then He could have lied in more. Then, like Dominoes, it all falls! I can question anything He says!! Nothing He says is trustworthy, I determine my own truth and . . . I become my own God!!!

Numbers 23: 19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 

I find comfort in that. Comfort that He is so much bigger, His Wisdom and His Truth so infinitely unfathomable, that I cannot compare my fallen humanity with His perfection. I find comfort in His Words and His promise that He does not, indeed, cannot, lie. Once that is established, I rest in is Truth.

It is far easier for me to simply confess that I do not know or understand so much of what goes on in the world around me, than to think that I know it all, and that I know better than God how to solve the problems of the world. I choose to not depend on my emotion, or my experience to determine the truth or the veracity of the Word of God, I go to the Word itself.

For example: a woman was quite upset when someone she cared for died and did not receive healing that she prayed for. So, her outcome and emotion based assessment of that situation led to the conclusion that God does not heal everyone. She concluded He chooses arbitrarily whom to heal, and whom not to. She wanted me to believe as she did. When I said to her, “You bring me your experience, and I set it in one column, I set the Word of God and what He says about healing in the other column, which do you think I should believe? Would it be right of me to take your word over His?” She left my class.

You see, I am totally comfortable saying that I not know all the circumstances of the situation, and believing that I do not understand it, without ever blaming my Father, my Lord and Holy Spirit. Someday, I will know more. As it says in:

Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Today, I seek to learn more each day, but I realize fully that the more I know, the more there is yet to learn.

On this blog I wish to share the Truth I have learned, and will learn as time goes, without apology, but without being rude. Hope you are okay with that.

If you wish to know more about my Statement of Faith in detail the simplest thing to do is to give you a link to the AG website for their 16 tenets of faith which gives you an understanding of who I am and where I Stand.

https://ag.org/Beliefs/Statement-of-Fundamental-Truths

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