Hello , Follow the recipe!
"Do everything without complaining and arguing so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." Philippians 2:14-15, NLT.
Only marshmallows, please.
Everybody loves S'mores. But there's a recipe for them. You take a Graham cracker and put on it a slab of Hershey's chocolate. After that, you put on toasty marshmallows followed by a top layer of Graham cracker. That's the recipe for S'mores. But please, please use only marshmallows. You wouldn't want catsup to replace the marshmallow. That would not be very good. And mustard. Mustard would give an awful twang to a S'more. That wouldn't be good at all. So please, use marshmallows and leave off trying to improve S'mores.
If you change the recipe, you get something else.
Take, for example, our nation. Our country has a Constitution and a Bill of Rights. Our people are supposed to follow those documents. For sure, our elected folks should be following the same. However, when folks start ruling by a different set of rules, you get something other than the Constitution. When folks ignore laws and murder, rape, and pillage, you get chaos, That's not the product of the original blueprint. Our country needs to follow the recipe. It's worked for over two hundred years.
It's the same for Bible stuff.
People endeavor to change the blueprint given by the Bible. But, of course, God has given the Bible, and when one changes it to fit his needs, he's telling God His recipe isn't good enough. I'm not courageous to do that. I don't want anyone else doing that either. What God gives, one must follow. If that doesn't happen, one gets something other than what God wants, and that's very dangerous indeed. That would be sin, and sin sentences one to hell. So, let's make sure we understand God's directions and follow them to the "T."
Do as God says and live.
Father, we owe our lives to You. We exist because You thought of us and made us so. Then again, Father, You gave salvation to the world through Christ Jesus. You give life through Jesus. Therefore, all praise is due to You, O God, and we honor You in the way we live. We give our hearts to You every day. Thereby our minds think of You all day, and our hearts give You praise. The light in a dark and often dangerous world is from You. Father, we shine in the dark and dispel fear and sin. You are our God, and we humbly submit to You! Amen Father. Thank You for such loving goodness. In Your Son's Name, amen!
This message is from Garland Van Dyke at Bible Points!Matthews St. church of ChristPO Box 1522, Bay City, TX 774141915 Matthews Street, Bay City, TX 77414(979) 318-2463Contact me at [email protected]www.matthewsstreetchurchofchrist.com facebook.com/matthewsstreetchurchofchristWant your own copy of our devotional in your inbox? biblepoints.org/bible-points(It's twice weekly and we don't bombard you with stuff!)
