THE SIMPLEST SOLUTION OF ALL TIME

As I sit here this morning rummaging through articles I have written and the index in my brain trying to see what it was I felt called to share with regards to a simple solution, and boom…I was struck right in the heart with full-on conviction.

What is the simplest solution of all time?  Yet somehow we make it the hardest by ignoring it or running to other things or vices or people?  

The Simplest Solution Of All Time is God’s word.  The Bible.

It really truly is.

There are so many self-help books out there. There are so many well-intentioned people wanting to inspire and encourage.  But, there is ONLY one book that is the supreme authority that really does give us all the information we need to know.

Anything I say, or anyone else says for that matter, if it is true, edifying, and biblical, all comes back to God’s word.  

Think about it.  

If we were designed in His image, which we were. Genesis 1:27 tells us “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

And our calling is to be more and more Christ-like every day.  Ephesians 4:22-24 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

If we were given instruction on how to live like him, which we are. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

And we know that we should hide God’s word in our hearts. Psalm 119:11 reminds us, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

 If we have LOVE. I Corinthians 13:1-3 reminds us of the humility and power and necessity of love!  “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

So, if we have all these things, does it not stand to reason that anything that is good, edifying, pleasing, encouraging, or helpful that comes out of my mouth comes from Him?  

Of course, it does.  

The simplest of all things, God’s word, we like to make the most difficult.  

We want to put it off and not pick it up.

We want to interpret it how it makes us comfortable instead of diving deep and longing to discover the real truth of how it was intended as written.

We want to pick and choose pieces of it to believe and the rest discard in our minds.

We want to apologize for some of it as if that makes us somehow cool or more approachable.

But, we miss the point…it isn’t about WE, it’s about Him!

Listen, friends, you and I are given such a short time to be here and each day is an absolute miraculous gift we have been given by the One who loves us more than any human ever could!

We are here for only this time right now, and who knows what tomorrow brings?  

The great thing is that we have been given this amazing instruction book on LIFE!  We have been given the laid out plan.  

I am not saying it is easy to swallow everything in there. The Bible can be offensive…guess why?  Because it’s perfect and we are not.  It’s convicting us as we are sinners.  If you aren’t offended by the Bible, in even the slightest, well, um yah…i don’t know, but those areas you and I read and feel put off, those are the areas you and I need to dwell in, for realsies, right?  Can I get an Amen?

It can also be comforting….more than a warm cup of coffee and a blanket on a fall day.  It is the kind of comfort that just wraps your entire body, mind, and soul into the safest experience you or I can ever imagine.

The Bible also brings great wisdom and teaching and unlike some would lead you to believe is NOT outdated, nor does it ever get old.  It is timeless, true, and useful for teaching.

Saying the sun isn’t shining doesn’t make it true, right?

OK, well saying the Bible isn’t the final authority on how to do life doesn’t make that true either.

You don’t have to agree with me, because I am not the end all be all, but God is.

Simplify life right now by picking up your bible and seeing what God has to say to you this morning.

I am not preaching, by the way, from some perfect standpoint.  I am very guilty of going (like I tend to do most things) in waves of good steadfast bible devotional times and then falling off the wagon for a while, then back on…you see how I am flowing in and out like that?  

Don’t make that your goal.  I say that to share this with you.

Thankfully, I have a God that loves me no matter the amount of time I spend in His word.  His love is perfect, not dependent on me, praise God for that!  

He loves me with a perfect love that is not thwarted by my silly lackidasical sinful self.  He sees me right down to the bone and then some.  He is the lover of my soul and the ONLY ONE that truly knows me in a way that only the creator of you or I could.

Do you know how much He loves you and me?  It literally brings me to tears if I think too deeply on it.  I can’t even fathom everything He gave up for you and for me. 

So, know today that if things are complicated, hard, and let’s be honest, just plain suck right now, this is NOT YOUR FOREVER!

God has a beautiful plan for your life, and those aren’t my words…those are His words!  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This is so exciting because guess what?  Did you know there is ONE THING God CAN’T DO?  Yup, He is incapable of lying.  So, we know that His word is true!  Take that to the bank all day long and twice on Sunday people! 

Stay encouraged and keep it simple by grabbing the best book of all time off your shelf (or click here for an online version if you don’t have a bible right now) and share with us below some of your favorite scriptures and times when the Lord used it to comfort you.