Fresh Mannaby Pastor Tim BurtToday, I want to use our devotional time to teach you something critical to understanding God's word and to encourage you to stop making the mistakes that Christians have made throughout Christianity when it comes to learning about God.People and cultures change over time. We want to think society changes for the better, but that's not a guarantee! We currently live in a sound bite generation. People want information quickly and in as few words as possible—in sound bites.People like snippets of what someone said so that they may get to the bottom line quickly; the problem with that is that sound bites do not carry the context of the conversation with which they were spoken and make it easy for others to mischaracterize what that snippet of words meant—and to their advantage if they have an agenda or a point of view they are trying to persuade others into. We live in the age of sound bites, and media consumers are possibly given misinformation multiple times daily. Very few are held accountable for misrepresenting what someone else said and meant. Honestly, it's a curse on our society. It has created a negative change in our culture. It leads us to be a generation of people who shape our opinions from out-of-context information and then take sides and become loyal to misinformation. It is so critical that you do not become one of those people. Especially as a Christian. At the very least, realize that you don't have to have an opinion on everything.Why am I sharing this with you? Because it's a problem in our society and one we need to guard our hearts from! But there's another more significant reason. Christians have become victims of this sound bite syndrome concerning God's word. We've let it creep into our understanding of God. God warns us to be careful of what we believe doctrinally. 1 Timothy 4:16 (NLT2) "Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you."I'll focus this point on one example to help you understand what I'm sharing today. Some scriptures seem to imply that we have no control over our lives. That God is simply going to dictate our outcome. And if that's the case, who are we to fight God? This verse could be an example of that. 1 Samuel 2:7 (NKJV) says, "The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up." This scripture appears to say that whether we are rich or poor is totally up to God, and we have nothing to say about it. That's what you would think if you treated God's word like a sound bite! All of God's word has to be interpreted in context with His total word and in relation to His covenant with us.God made many promises when He created a covenant with His people through Abraham. He promised He would give Abraham and his descendants a "Promiseland." Evil people were living contrary to God's word in that land. Abraham's descendants had to go in and possess it having faith that God would help them. God would allow and help His people take the land from the evil presently there and push them out. God required them to obey His Word and have faith in Him working on their behalf to possess this land. God didn't just wave His hand and make it happen. He allowed it according to His covenant with them, but they had to do it. This is the meaning behind "The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up." In context, it means God allowed for this blessing and promise to happen for them as they would pursue it by faith.At first, God's people were afraid and didn't trust God. That generation did not have the courage to go into the promised land and take it. And so they did not experience His promise and blessing. God's promise was a sound bite to them that they did not mix with faith! So Joshua and Caleb led the next generation to do so and their lives became richer for it.God gives us free will and allows us to trust His Word and promises and make godly decisions about our lives as He guides us. That leads to a blessing!I hear people teach God's word wrongly often. People often feel like they are victims of Hissovereignty and have no choice in the outcome of their lives. They say, "I hate God! He gave me this crummy life! It's not fair! Don't be one who hears sound bites from God's word and misunderstands them. Don't let your life be misguided by them. Some verses are difficult to understand but I promise you God is a God of covenant promise and has always has a plan of good for His people! God is good. God wants you to choose His Word and His covenant promises and have faith that He wants good for you so that you'll overcome the evil Satan has tried to attack your life with. Be an overcomer living a purpose-filled and blessed life for Him! God, in context, is always good and His words are far too important to understand than to take them as a sound bite!Proverbs 4:7: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding."In His love,Pastor Tim Burt
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