Bible Study June 8

June 8

I’m going to continue down the path we began yesterday in sharing some insights from “Kicking Over Sacred Cows” by Charles Capps.

Capps says Satan came for three reasons: kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus said I come that you may have life. What a contrast yet people follow the devil daily to destruction. In the Old Testament there is not much said about the devil. They lived under the covenant law and as long as they followed the law – all was well. But many times the Israelites were rebellious against God and there we consequences. We see one instance where they said “We wish we would have stayed in Egypt. We’re going to all die in the wilderness.” Sure enough serpents came, bit them, and many died.  They believed that the serpents came from God but if they were obedient there was no need for the serpents to come. This was a result of their disobedience.

It was their disobedience that caused their death. God does nurture (chasten) us but it is for our good. It is not abuse but teaching. We taught our children what was right if they disobeyed, they were reprimanded and shown what was right (trained) the same is true for us from God. God gets blamed for many things he never did. Capps says if God lived on the earth and did some of the things, he is accused of He’d spend all His time in the penitentiary.

Think about this for a moment – God is a Spirit; He chastens us by spiritual means. He does not bring on physical illness. It is our spirit that lives on that is the concern of God the Father. He teaches us for profit. Many people believe that sickness is from God – here is thought to ponder if sickness were a chastisement for us then everyone who is sick would become more holy. According to Capps if sickness was a chastisement the sicker you got the more righteous you become.

Many people believe God will whip us, beat us down until we come into line with Him. That is simply not true for if it was then He would save everybody but He has given us free will to choose the path to follow.

Faith is what it takes to follow God. It is the faith he has given to all of and it begins by our believing what he said in His Word “rightly dividing it.”