Milk is For Babies

Prefer milk?

For the last few weeks I’ve been studying the blood covenant and it’s meaning for us as we understand our relationship with God.  The more I study and ponder on this subject the more daunting it becomes to know where to start.  So today, I just thought I would keep it on the lighter side, and talk about a few things that have been floating on the margins and not finding their way into a blog.   To be perfectly honest, I’ve been missing the writing.  I should confess that I’m fairly addicted to the feeling I get when I start writing, and hit that groove where the Holy Spirit takes over.  Please don’t think me presumptuous if I say that the Holy Spirit helps me.  I think it’s safe to say that if the Holy Spirit does not help anyone writing about matters of God and His ways, you shouldn’t waste your time reading it.  That’s what God calls “Ghost written” material!  Except when He comes, He wraps His loving arms around you, and massages your brain with His electromagnetic fingers, and, well, you just want to write every day.  Unfortunately, I find you have to give Him some material to work with, so that’s where the research comes in.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of kings to search out a matter”  ¹

This is probably Bill Johnson’s theme verse.  And for good reason.  Searching out a matter is a big part of the fun of being a disciple of Jesus.  While he walked the earth, the disciples spent little time searching other than to ask Him a lot of foolish questions.  Now that He’s in heavenly places, we have to do our asking and searching through the Holy Spirit.   Not to diminish Him in any way, but He is the heavenly search engine.  Paul says that the Holy Spirit searches out all things, even the mind of God! ²  Let Google try to compete with that.

Fortunately for me, I have a wife, Ann, that is always ready to hear my latest thoughts, and immediately comes up with some inspired jewels.  But there are many who just don’t track with the deeper things of God and His ways, creation, the laws and structure of this universe, and so on.  One dear l in particular, just glazes over when Ann or I start talking about our latest God revelation.  Soon we realize we’ve done it again.  We’ve barked up an empty tree.  That inner eyelid comes up, the one that lets you look like you’re awake, whereas you’ve left the conversation a while back.  At this point we know what’s coming next:  “well, I have my simple faith, and I’ve been happy that way all my life…” .  Now before I go any further, dear reader, if that sounds like you, I love you as much as I do that wonderful lady who many years ago prayed both of us into the Kingdom.  But you’ve probably wandered into the wrong blog, and reading any further may risk to offend you, or even worse, you may become irrevocably excited about the ultra-amazing world of God!

The writer of the book of Hebrews – probably Paul – has some interesting things to say on this subject.  Bottom line, he doesn’t seem to have much patience for having to repeat the same basic messages which he calls the milk.  Here I have to interject that the fault really lies with many of the elder brothers out there – our pastors, ministers and priests – who have, for whatever reason, chosen to serve up a “sermon light” time and again for their flocks.  The people have become used to being spectators at church, and not much more, and often, even the daily reading and study of the Word is not even stressed or encouraged.  The result is perfectly described in the following passage (Hebrews 5:11-14):

                    “There is much more I would like to say along these lines, but you don’t seem              to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand.                                                                                             You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching                       others, but instead you have dropped back to the place where you need someone to             teach you all over again the very first principles in God’s Word. You are like babies             who can drink only milk, not old enough for solid food. And when a person is still               living on milk it shows he isn’t very far along in the Christian life, and doesn’t                       know much about the difference between right and wrong. He is still a baby                         Christian!                                                                                                                                                            You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the                               deeper things of God’s Word until you become better Christians and learn right                    from wrong by practicing doing right.”  (The Living Bible)

At this point, I probably need to confess that in the thirty or so years that I’ve been a Christian, probably only about eight or ten have actually scratched even the surface of the depth and breath of God’s Word and relationship with Him.  I look at the command of Scripture and the deeper stuff of a Chuck Missler and many others, and it makes my head spin.  I look at a young guy like one of our pastors, Chris Gore, who has an amazingly ridiculous global healing ministry, and a humility to go with it, and it really inspires me to seek a much greater revelation of who God really is!

Fortunately for us everyday Christians, God is gracious.  Hebrews goes on to say :

                    “For God is not unfair. How can he forget your hard work for him, or forget                 the way you used to show your love for him – and still do – by helping his children?             And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts,                        so that you will get your full reward.

                    Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won’t become bored with being a              Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to                  follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of            their strong faith and patience.”   ³

Hope to see you soon with a series on the blood covenant.  Meanwhile, get started by reading the Bible daily.  If you’re not in the Word daily, find a reading plan and stay with it.  Take small steps, but stay with it.  If you’re not a reader, get an app like YouVersion, and let it read to you.  Choose an easy to understand translation:  I love the Living version for just reading fast through the Bible.  I highly recommend a fast read through the entire Bible to get a whole new perspective of the kindness of God, and many other new aspects of Him that you will never know with spotty reading or study.  Every time I do it I get something new.   Friend me on YouVersion and we can keep an eye on each other’s progress.  Right now my morning devotions start with a Canonical (front to back as it’s printed in the bible) one year tour.

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¹   Proverbs 25:2                                                                                                                                        ²   1 Corinthians 2:9-10 “That is what is meant by the Scriptures which say that no mere man has ever seen, heard, or even imagined what wonderful things God has ready for those who love the Lord.   But we know about these things because God has sent his Spirit to tell us, and his Spirit searches out and shows us all of God’s deepest secrets. “  (The Living Bible)                                                                                                                                              ³  Hebrews 6:10-12 (The Living Bible)