Priscilla's Page

God did not lack wisdom when he created the heavens and the earth. It pleased him to form man and breathe life into his nostrils; this man became a living soul! "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good" (Genesis 1:3). God was and is a very powerful and loving God! He is to be glorified! His people are not to be found wanting; they are to reflect his goodness.

In Daniel, we read how God gave Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom. He, the king, refused to give God the glory. "When his heart was lifted up, they took his glory from him" (Daniel 5:18). How? The king became as the beasts of the field. He ate and slept with them until he knew that God ruled in the kingdom of man and, he, God would appoint over that kingdom anyone he would choose. Nebuchanezzar's son became the next king. "And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this: But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven" (Daniel 5:22-23). In other words, your father was your example; why didn't you glorify God? Daniel gave King Belshazzar the answer to the handwritten message on the wall. "Thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting" (Daniel 5:27). It so happens Belshazzar was slain that same night!

The Old Testament teaches that God is a loving God. "I am the Lord thy God . . . have none other gods before . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God" (Deuteronomy 5:6-7, 9). There is but one God and he loves us!

After sampling everything under the sun in the known world, Solomon, the wise one, states: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: For this is the whole duty of man: For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

In due season, according to plan, Christ the Son of God was born. The prophets foretold of his arrival and the angels sang his praise. All through the ages, we on earth have at some time rejected that Gift of God in one way or another. None have eluded sin; still God loves us! When we refuse to obey the Word and turn from the love of Jesus, we no longer have a propitiation for our sins. Our faith in God wavers and our hope for eternal life in heaven disappears. Our sins are wide open to judgment by God. The weights will not balance equally. Jesus is the sure Hope and the Promise of eternal life. He holds the balances in his hands.

To keep the balance, we must never deviate from the Holy Word, written for our use. "That we be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit . . . Let no man deceive you by any means" (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3). Those who try to persuade us to add to or take from the New Testament doctrine have not read, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not . . ." (2 John 9-10). Enough said! Has someone "bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?" (Galatians 3:11). Can we afford to be led by those who would have us accept an obvious sin because it may please many? We are not to please man, many or few. We are to please God! We are to "continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard" (Colossians 2:23). "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1)! Christians live in but do not love the world. The Word of God is to dwell in Christians! We are to be rich in wisdom, to teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. If we serve the Lord, we shall receive the reward of the inheritance. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. . . . If ye love me, keep my commandments . . . for without me ye can do nothing" (John 14:6, 15; 15:5). Man knows God loves him but somehow finds it difficult to obey. He makes excuses and neglects the whole duty of man.

The struggle going on today is one of great deceit. Some ask, "Why can't we twist or contort the meaning of the Holy Word just enough to make it fit our view of what is right or wrong?" OR "Why can't we practice only what feels good in our sight?" These are self-pleasing measures, not the doctrine of Christ! No need to question the motive, the quest is to lead astray while pacifying an appetite in the art of playing god! This is self-glory. God is to receive the glory!

The answer to the struggle is this: "Hear, the Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . . ." (Mark 12:30-31). To strive to glorify God in all we do should keep all God-fearing people occupied from here into eternity. When we give God all the glory and honor, we need not worry about the balancing of the scales. There will be no wanting!