Do your best

Do your best
The apostle Paul writes,
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2Timothy 4:3,4.
If you consider yourself a Christian, a true follower of Christ Jesus, are you teaching sound doctrine?
Many churches are not following sound doctrine. Many preachers and evangelist are teaching what they believe and not what the bible teaches. To make matters worse there are few voices in the Christian world who are willing to take a stand and at least try to correct those teaching wrong doctrine.
The apostle Paul wrote,
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.
This is what we as Christians whether we stand in the pulpit or sit in the pew must do.
Please think about it.

Unless

Unless
The Psalmist writes,

“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain....”

                                                                                       Psalm 127:1a.

If you claim to be a believer in Christ Jesus, do you let God build your house?
Jesus said,
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27.
Sadly not everyone who claims to be a believer in Christ builds their house on teachings of Christ. Instead they base what they believe on the teachings and interpretations of various preachers and evangelist.
Now for the most part I think preachers and evangelist around the world are in general good men and women who do their best to present the gospel message truthfully. They base what they teach on the teachings of Jesus.
Still however there are many both in the pulpit and in the pew claiming to be followers of Jesus who do not follow the teaching of Christ.
The apostle Paul warns
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
I firmly believe we as individual believers in Christ need to be careful who we listen to. We have an obligation at the very least to ourselves to make sure the ministers and evangelist we are listening to are truly teaching the word of God.
We have an obligation to ourselves to make sure that we are building our spiritual house on the teachings of Jesus.
We have this obligation, because what we believe, will ultimately determine where we will spent eternity.
Please think about it. 

Purity of Faith

Purity of Faith
The Apostle Paul writes,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
The above scripture is a warning for all who would call themselves believers in Christ Jesus.
As I said in my previous blog post, the Bible is written to believers. It tells believers in God, believers in Christ Jesus how they should act both with God and their fellow man.
I as a believer in Christ Jesus firmly believe that all believers must live their lives in accordance with God’s teaching. That those teachings must not be watered down or changed in any way. They must not be mixed with politics, anything secular or other beliefs, for God will hold all who claim to believe in him accountable for their actions.
Proverbs tells us,

“For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, 

and he examines all his paths.”  

                                 Proverbs 5:21

The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. 

Everything is uncovered 

and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” 

                                                                                        Hebrews 4:13.

The apostle Paul’s admonition to Timothy is very clear,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
People claiming to be Christian have for centuries turned from the truth and believed myths. It is however I believe more prevalent in the twenty-first century in which we live because of our multimedia world.
Sadly too many people believe what they see and hear in the media without checking the facts for themselves. This should not be so.
As believers in Christ Jesus we should be praying and reading the Bible for ourselves. Asking God to give us insights into the truths contained in the scriptures. Asking God to steer us away from false teaching and leading us to the truth. For Jesus has said,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’Matthew 7:21-23
Please think about it.

Sound Doctrine

Sound Doctrine
The apostle Paul writes,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
This is a warning not just for Paul’s day but for every generation of believers. Sadly too many people in the Christian community only listen to what they want to hear. This does not necessarily lead to the truth.
St. Augustine said,
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” St Augustine.
From time to time I believe we need what we believe questioned. We should not live in a bubble. We should do as Paul writing to Timothy states,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15.
At the same time we need to discuss our beliefs with others. Even question what we believe.
It was by questioning their own beliefs, by questioning what they had been taught, that Martin Luther and John Calvin realized that some of what they believed was not scriptural. This triggered what we know today as the Reform or Protestant movement.
Those who believe in Christ Jesus. Those who are truly rooted in the truth of Christ’s teachings need not fear their faith being questioned.
Quite the contrary if what we believe is true, questioning what we believe will only make us stronger in our faith.
So the question I would ask you, if you espouse to be a believer in Christ Jesus do you from time to time question what you are being taught? Or, Do you simply blindly trust those who are teaching you?
Please think about it.