I’m really beginning to believe (and I’m convinced the Bible backs it up – see Luke 6:46f) that people who refuse instruction and correction cannot really be Christians. After all, repentance is necessary to follow Jesus into the incredible liberty He has for those who continue in His Word. They’re the ones He knows and they are the only ones who will be free indeed from the devil’s schemes.
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
Proverbs 15:32
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.
Hebrews 12:6
Ann and I were talking during this morning’s coffee time. She pointed out something she’d read in the “Bait of Satan” book she’s reading again. A lack of obedience will cause us to live in sin and sin always leads us away from the safe, secure, liberating secret place of the Most High. We must be in the Word and applying it to our lives every moment of the day in order to get and stay free in Christ. I had been sliding into some old, generational thought patterns and what Ann shared with me snapped me out of it. I quickly went online and began reading Psalm 91 out loud over and over and over. Sure enough, I felt completely different. The Word will deliver us if we’re obedient to do what it says to do. Otherwise, we’re open to this world’s ways and the enemy’s suggestions that lead us into his traps.
Jesus wants us free. Stay open to instruction and correction. Stay free in Christ.
Thanking and praising God in all things (Ephesians 5:20),
Mark
Note: While we may not agree with everything a particular church or Christian group teaches or believes, there are times when we can be blessed by something outside the realm of our current understanding of God.