Jump Start # 932

Ephesians 3:3-5 “that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made know to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.”

I started a new book last night. It comes with a lot of hype and is about living the transformed life in Christ. Two pages into the book and I was already disgusted with it. I’m getting fed up with modern religious writers. All their books read the same. First, they can’t write a few pages without having to tell their story, their success and how great they are. If I wanted an autobiography about the author I would have bought that. This is especially true on books about the prodigal son. It seems that modern writers aren’t content with Jesus’ story. They have to tell their own prodigal story in such a way that it trumps what Jesus said.

Secondly, the lack of Biblical knowledge is astonishing. If these writers don’t know the Bible is it any wonder that the people sitting in the pews where these guys are preaching don’t have a clue. In the book I read last night, the author described a dream God sent him about building a church. When they couldn’t afford a paved parking lot, his wife had a dream, from God, about how the parking lot would be paved for free. A local businessman, also had a dream from God, was directed to pave the parking lot for free. Sure was a lot of “godly” dreaming going on in those first few pages. Everyone was happy, happy, happy. God was really working. Dreams will flying and parking lots were being paved.

When someone writes stuff like this, and this is common, run of the mill lingo found in current religious books, who can argue with a dream from God? It seems that this is divine. This is what God wants.

I am so weary of such misuse of God and ignorance of His word. Our passage tells us that the APOSTLES were guided by the Holy Spirit. The APOSTLES were led by the Holy Spirit. The APOSTLES were filled with the Holy Spirit. They wrote. The Christians read. When the Christians read, they knew. They knew what the apostles did. This came after the apostles wrote and the Christians read. God didn’t send dreams to the Christians. Peter had a dream before he went to Cornelius’ house. Peter was an apostle. Paul had a vision a couple of times. Paul was an apostle. The Christians weren’t getting dreams from God. They were busy reading what the apostles wrote. Had the author of the book I read spent more time reading and less time sleeping or dreaming he would have learned some things.

The book of Hebrews begins with the principle that long ago God talked to man in many ways. The Old Testament shows that. He spoke through burning bushes, visions, donkeys, prophets, messages written on walls. The passage goes on to say that in these last days He speaks through His son. God speaks through Jesus. John begins his gospel by referring to Jesus as the “WORD.” He didn’t call Jesus the “DREAM.”

Twice in the New Testament we are told that God is not a respecter of persons. If God tells me something, but doesn’t tell you what He told me, it seems like He has favored me. God doesn’t do that. I never got a dream about parking lots. Peter wrote in his second letter that all things pertaining to life and godliness has been given by God. If Peter’s readers had EVERYTHING they needed, then why is God still sending dreams, whispers and other messages?

The bottom line is that God speaks through the written word today. That is His avenue. This is why the Bible takes such a supreme place in the plan of God.

People can have dreams. People can have goals, plans and ideas. But to say, “God sent me this dream,” is not Biblical. It’s starting at a wrong place. Someone building a church, movement or foundation at this starting place is going to miss it because his misunderstanding of God’s word is going to take him places that he shouldn’t be. The assurance of God is in following His word. It is not in trusting our feelings or what we think are Heaven sent dreams.

So many people operate under the thinking that God told me to do this, or, God sent me here. They confuse faith and feelings. They put more trust in feelings that the word of God. They will ignore what the Bible says because of what their feelings tell them. When discussing things like this, it is common to hear someone reply, “Oh, that’s just the Bible.” Yeah! You’re right, it is the Bible. Put the brakes on. Stop. Listen. Read. Study. Look. You can’t be right with God and wrong with the Bible. You can’t please God and ignore what He says in the Bible. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Feelings can be misleading. Feelings change. Feelings are fickle. Faith isn’t like that. Faith is based upon the word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith and feelings are not the same.

Does God tell me what to do? Yes. How does He tell me? Not in dreams, whispers, voices, feelings. He tells me through His word.

God’s people are a people of the book.

Roger