Higher Standards

"They don't know Jesus. Hashem."

A MAN without God, believing in other gods, will defend his right to misbehave. It’s the same behavior as devils. They cannot and will not stop doing wrong. A promise from them is never kept. Romans 1 shows the descent of sin in humans and devils. This thought goes to current politics and to church teaching. Governments making deals with governments, who, because of their beliefs outside of God, will not keep any promises. They have no reason to. They don’t know Jesus. Hashem. Church leaders not walking in the love of God – for people, for pastors, for government. The pulpit is not a political stance. Instead, the standards of God’s Word are Truth, and Truth is how we walk through life, every day.

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth (John 18:38)?” The Roman government of that day had none of the living God in it but worshipped idols. The Greeks, preceding them, worshiped idols. And the Egyptians and all nations surrounding Israel. Job, of the book of Job, is an anomaly, given where he lived, that he believed in God, talked to Him, and heard from Him. Abraham, too, was not from what became Israel but much further east.

God is not held to borders, a belief in those ancient days. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik commented on this in his teaching on Jonah, which I’ve mentioned here before. It was frightening to the sailors when they discovered he was a Hebrew (Jonah 1:10) because the Hebrew God had a reputation for going where He will. He still does, though the Gentiles have become the church. I say it this way for a purpose. In the apostle Paul’s letters, the Jews and Gentiles comprise the church. Though this is Truth still, the Gentiles of the church, to rephrase it again, do not see it this way. To us, we are the church. They, the Jews, are the people of Israel. In making this divide, we’ve lost unity that God wants (Romans 11:18). How do I say this again? That Jesus is Jew. He was born of Jewish lineage. He is Hashem that they worship, who spoke with Abraham to leave Ur. They know Him as covenant. He keeps His promises. Meanwhile, we preach faith.

“He always remembers his promise, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations, the promise that he made to Abraham, and his sworn oath to Isaac.” (Psalm 105:8-9, GW)

God’s character is the point of having faith. His character is what draws us into unity. His nature is why we love others, despite their flaws. His wisdom keeps us from making deals with those who won’t be like Him and keep their word. His Spirit holds us silent when our humanness would have us spout our frustrations. Most of the time, God would rather we say nothing about what we dislike. And about what He reveals to us. He shares Truth. He loves to share Truth. But He knows our motives and won’t share what we will hand out to everyone we meet. He isn’t with us to see we get attention but so that we walk upright, holy, loving. Loves covers sin (1 Peter 4:8). Love also makes good choices. It isn’t a balance. It’s His fullness.

He asks us to “Come up higher,” but that means letting go of our point-of-view. Are we listening to the sermon itself, or is there another thought He desires to reveal? How simpleminded have we become in our learning? In our teaching. I seek Him even if I know the topic. Many … most others repeat what they’ve heard when there is so much more to it. And people are wrong. God is not. That ought to matter. Are we doing what He asked? Or is this conference, service, meeting our idea?

I did not say what we want to do is sin. We can be correct about the information, correctly teach the Word, but it not be Him at all. Our heart must be to hold His hand and never let go. We won’t make bad deals with dishonest people then but will know them by their fruits.


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