Psalm 50:16 English Standard Version (ESV) But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?”

Some of my readers have the ability to discern truth. Yesterday’s plea was for my readers to judge my words for themselves. May those judgments be in spirit and in truth, Amen.

Today’s opening verse speaks to the issues of rights granted by God verses those privileges taken by men with other intentions.

Philippians 1:15 English Standard Version (ESV) Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.

Paul speaks to issues he sees in his own time. If we look around us today and examine what is being said with the abiding truth within us, we might discover something more. Some just get it wrong and refuse to submit themselves to Christ’s Lordship. Pride of intellect will often provide convincing arguments but this is not about convincing, it is about revelation.

Psalm 139:23-24 English Standard Version

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!
²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

False teachers will tell us what to think and urge us to rely on their teachings rather than to submit ourselves to Christ’s Lordship and receive correction about our own thoughts.

False teachings will not stand up to the light of truth. Truth dwells within those who have accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their hearts. Truth will reveal itself even if we have a false thought. This is a blessing that comes from an intimate relationship with our Lord. The closer the relationship the better the communication.

Psalm 25:5 English Standard Version (ESV) Lead me in your truth and teach me,  for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Isaiah 28:11 English Standard Version (ESV) For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people,

This next verse was not quoted yesterday in the opening with purpose. While it is a continuation of the precept with truth it might sound like something else to the untrained ear. The natural tendency might be to think about evangelism. It does sound that way. The message of precepts is for everyone and not just for those that evangelize or are evangelized. It is for everyone.

John 4:23-24 English Standard Version

²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Worshipping God in spirit and in truth is foreign to the natural man, it sounds strange coming from the lips of those who are saved and falling upon the ears of the lost. Those who are in the world are hearing for the first time the voice of those living in the Kingdom of God. We are different and should sound different.

Those who have matured beyond the simple principles know Christ with the intimacy required to hear our Lord in the spirit and to know the truth being given to us is to be spoken. The lost need to hear the words of the Lord, not by the recital of memory but rather from a heart that has been changed by His abiding presence. We do not know the innermost needs of the lost but our Lord does. He knows best how to reach the lost to whom He calls.

Romans 15:1 English Standard Version (ESV) We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

1 Corinthians 10:15 English Standard Version (ESV) I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.