posted on Oct, 18 2005 @ 12:40 PM
Originally posted by junglejake
TSA, that's awesome to hear you want to go deeper! First and foremost, you must submerse yourself in the Word. Only by knowing the Word will
you be able to see through false prophets and teachers. The Word is living; you can read it thousands of times and still open it one day and discover
something new. Daily fellowship with God is also key to this. The Spirit reveals much in ways of interpretation and understanding. By setting aside
time to spend alone with God, you give the Spirit a chance to talk to you when you're listening.
This is precisely what my good friend and teacher tells me CONSTANTLY, almost exactly what JJ just said, to the word. The part that really gets me is
it is not stated LITERALLY like that in the Bible is it? So how exactly do so many different people understand it the same way without actually
reading it with their carnal eyes/mind....think about that!
Literally just yesterday I was reminded by my friend again that the spirit and the word of God are living things, and that is one thing he is always
telling me. He has been reading the word for 3-4 years now and a LOT, although he has gained a ridiculous amount of knowledge, he admits frequently
that he too learns something new everytime he reads, despite the fact he has finished the book numerous times.
Finally do not presume someone's walk with the Lord by their appearance. This is something I have been very guilty of, dismissing lessons God wanted
me to know that I dismissed because the person appeared too young, old, or even mentally retarded. The Lord speaks to us through some of the strangest
people, and, in my case, I believe all them are geared to humble me and to teach me.
This is something that has been made very clear to me recently, the friend I referred to is the LAST person I would have thought would teach me so
much. His past was filled with much sin and many mistakes, he used to sell drugs to support himself, he got into a situation where his life was in
danger and he broke down and asked God to bail him out, well he got out of the situation somehow and what do you think he did. He went back out and
did the same thing, got himself into 2 more similiar scenarios and both times was spared, after that he tells me that he knew someone was really
watching over him. I might mention that sometime after the second situation was when he first started giving God some thought and began to delve into
the Bible. Give God a chance and he will give you one.
He made a decision to change his life after observing how dangerous his lifestyle had become and after the death of his brother in possibly similiar
circumstances. He is not the type of person that I would ever think of being a great teacher to me, but yet because he reads the Bible and is blessed
with the spirit, he has been just that.
[edit on 10/18/2005 by JKersteJr]