Desire Pure Milk

 

Friday, August 2, 2013

“Like newborn babes, long the pure milk of the word, so that by it  you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord

" (I Pet. 2:1-2). 

Hey Gang:  Did you know "…that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"  (Matt. 4:4)  Does that mean that if I seek His word He will reveal it to me personally?  You beat your sweet bippy that is what it means. 

Peter put it this way, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious”.  Wow, that is pure milk to the soul.  Stop for minute, before the day begins to crowd in on you, and write these words down on a card or the palm of your hand: “Your Word, my Lord,  is like milk and honey to my soul.” Now, lean on it as you traverse this day.

Let me share a bit of wisdom that this almost eighty-year old has learned in his sojourn on this earth:  I can measure the peaks and valleys of my life by the times I let God take control of my life and, the times when I said, “Okay God, I can take it from here.   Isaiah nailed it when he wrote, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way”(53:6).

Now, turn your dome of intellect up a notch before reading the final phrase of this verse, “For the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him”.  Wow, dudes, can you beat that?  He carried every sin, every iniquity, every transgression to the cross - on his back. Every time we failed to witness for Him, etc. etc, etc. 

I have heard many say they wish they could wash away the mistakes they made in their past.  I have certainly said that, but think about it for a moment, "When we confess our sins and seek His forgiveness,  He is so wonderfully faithful  to forgive us of our sins!  But, He does not wash the memories of those sins from our minds.   There is a saying from the past that goes like this, 'If we forget the errors of our ways we are prone to repeat them.'

Years ago I had a very good friend who was a very effective Bible teacher.  He made the comment that he would never think of teaching a subject from the Bible without reading it forty times.  I am not sure what the significance of the forty is, but his teaching always included a depth that amazed me.  And then one day he came into contact with a very beautiful young lady that showed an interest in him and he took the hook. 

A divorce followed, a loss of his ministry, a second divorce when the sweet young lady grew tired of him and moved on to greener pasture.  He, eventually, ended up on skid row and then on to prison.  In prison he made friends with the prison chaplain and sought the forgiveness of the Lord.  After being released he returned to the teaching pulpit, but one day there was a sweet young lady that gave him what he craved - attention and the process was repeated. 

Peter described that process when he wrote, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire."  Notice the verse prior to this proverb "For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them" (2 Peter 21-22).  

Soooo, Ya know what?  I think you will run into a clinker in the road today, or tomorrow, or perhaps you will luck out and make it to next week – but know this!  Satan has his dart machine loaded and will watch your every step, and every thought, and fire when he knows you have left your Armor of God in the closet.  He cannot read your mind, but he certainly can read your actions and,  like Eve, he will give you the desires of your heart.  And you can be assured those desires will lead you down the wrong road!

Keep your eyes on Jesus!

Blessings,  

 Gramps