God Direct

"Never doubt the size of His love for men."

THE WRITTEN Word of God is our foundation, and yes, all doctrine should be founded upon it. But all of history is not contained in it. The USA is not in it, yet we know its history and that God is here, instrumental in our purpose. So God does speak of things outside of the written Word to Guide us and Teach us and Comfort us. But what He says will always agree with the Truths of the written Word.

Proof of this is the education of the apostle Paul. For fourteen years, he learned from the Holy Spirit the truth of the New Covenant. Consider there was no written New Testament, nor any of his epistles or those of the other disciples. So what Paul learned was directly from God. He makes reference to Old Covenant truths many times, he was a highly educated Pharisee, but what he learned of the work of Jesus’ death and Resurrection was, at that time, outside of the written Word. His letters were included in the complete Word of God. However, when they were written, they were just the “speculations” of one man.

One of my very favorite Bible translations contains several unaccepted books amongst its Old Covenant literature. I have not read them because the Spirit says they are not His work. This is the criteria of what is included. Did the Spirit of God write them? Understanding He did so through men of God. He has had His hand in every translation of the Bible. Though none are perfect, the authors using personal knowledge many times, He hovered over their surface as the knowledge of God. Even King James’ edition has errors, although the Spirit has said it is the most accurate translation directly done from the original languages.

Paraphrases are not excluded from the Spirit’s work. The author of the Message Bible has a wonderful story of how he got into paraphrasing the Word. I have read his book on the prophet Jeremiah (biography), and it is wonderful. Though it is not a direct translation (and neither is the Remedy, that I refer to a lot, or the work Minister Rick Renner is doing, and he’s a Greek expert), it is most helpful to me. I love, love, love the book of Ephesians in the Message Bible. The point to all of this is that we must honor the foundation of the Word but not limit the Spirit. He is great-big, as my mother would put it. He was not, in Genesis, hovering over a six-foot square but over the entire earth. Psalm 139 tells us He is in all parts of the globe. There is nowhere we can go to escape Him, including hell. It also says He sees the growth and formation of every single child in the womb. What a beautiful picture. He knew me before I was ever formed, knew my life and my struggles. He orchestrated, then, my victory. He hears all prayers, even the frightened ones, and those, I know, are most precious to Him. Prayers without faith bring His care. Never doubt the size of His love for men. Oh, maybe rescue doesn’t look like we expect, but rescue is always His heart.

A pair of verses in 1 John 5 speak to me today. Verse 1 and 2 in the EasyEnglish translation read, “We may love someone who is a father. If we do, we will also love the child of that person. This is how we know that we really love the children of God.” God is a Father who loves His children. Now take in the opening segment of Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you.” The pronoun “him” refers to the Father. The Holy Spirit is as much the Father as He is Christ, He is the anointing of the Anointed One. And we know John 3:16 where we are told the Father SO LOVED the world that He would give even the death of His Son. This is a much bigger statement than we have seen. Jesus became human in order to die. He is the Word which was in the beginning (John 1:1). Romans 8:32 asks, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The answer is absolutely.

Don’t limit God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – to what you understand. Seek to learn and understand, ask Him for wisdom, then read the Word and watch it open up before you. But, too, Philippians 4:7 says He will give us peace beyond understanding. This means we won’t understand it, no matter how we try. God is that big, that generous, and that wise. We can trust Him to speak to us in a manner where we can hear it, and we can trust what He says. He makes Himself clear, always. Right into the midst of our situation, He will speak truth, which we like Paul did, can apply and know comes from the Word, through the Word, and is of the Word directly to our circumstance.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

“Jesus answered gently, ‘I am the Way back to my Father. I am the Truth revealing my Father’s character and the principles upon which life is based; I am the Source of all life. I am the Bridge, and no one comes to the Father except through me—because all truth revealing the Father has been provided by me.’” (John 14:6, Remedy)

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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com