| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Got to run some technical water with a good friend yesterday. He is very experienced and talented to boot - Me -- not so much. Some observations: 1) It is more important to be in the right channel than how fast you are going. If you are in the right channel, your speed is only dictated by the direction you have to go. There is lots of water in the right channel (water is your friend), while if you are in the wrong place, you had better be going fast (on step) or you are surely going to hit a rock. In fact, in the wrong channel, you may hit even when on step. The temptation is to go faster than you need to as adrenaline is funny stuff. Speed can be bad though, as it reduces your ability to plan or even react. Let's turn the Spiritual Switch. Jesus is our right channel. In him, we have the luxury of rest, peace, hope, security and confidence. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6 Also, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13 If you are in the wrong channel, you can be doing everything else right by worldly standards, and still sink. The wrong channel is any that isn't Jesus Christ. "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12 Or, it can be a counterfeit channel - "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." Gal. 1:6-7 So how do I know? Please, read it for yourself. Don't trust the preacher, pastor or priest solely, as they are just men. It has to be "Thus saith the Lord". God laments: "My people perish for lack of knowledge." I am certainly pro-Church, but I love it when people check up on what I preach, because I can make mistakes (which scares me to death), and it means they are reading it for themselves. Do you have peace? Are you secure in the proper channel - or are you franticly dodging hazards in the wrong channel? The right channel has precious little to do with denominations, traditions or heritage, and all to do with Relationship. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? I don't mean a knowledge of His existence or history, but do you long to spend time with Him daily? If not, you're quite simply in the wrong channel. God Bless. |
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