As I was preparing to post Part 3, I was reminded on this day, the tragic events of 9-11. It is my prayer that God would comfort the friends, families of those who suffered losses that day. It is also my prayer that many would come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!
The events that unfolded that day were not the result of pilot error...they were intentional by those who hijacked the planes. The purpose of this series is to help those who are facing storms in life, as in the case of 9-11, and how to stay in flight.
The Instrument Panel of the Believer
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| Six basic instruments in a light twin-engine airplane arranged in a "basic-T". From top left: airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, turn coordinator, heading indicator, and vertical speed indicator |
We must be as a pilot who relies on his instruments when encountering
dangerous conditions during a flight. We must not let our feelings and emotions
guide us, because they will deceive us! (Jer
17:9) As you encounter storms and conditions that are beyond your
imagination...the following gauges will provide invaluable, OBJECTIVE, wisdom
and direction in your flight! In my own life....I can affirm to you the power
of the Instrument Panel of the Christian Life!
1.
The
Word of God
This is the first gauge that we
need to look at when we encounter a storm. We live in a day as in the book of
Judges when “every man did that which is
right in his own eyes” (Judg
17:6;21:25) We must always re-adjust our ways and thinking to the
Bible...we should never
adjust or change the Bible to suit our ways and thoughts!
Is 55
6 ¶ Seek ye the LORD while he
may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto
the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
This Bible is so foreign to...
i.
The philosophy of this world
ii.
The teaching of the secular schools at all
levels
iii.
Hollywood and the Music industry
As believers we must not allow
these influences to conform us, but we must take an active role in countering
all these influences! Time we spend in the Word every day is crucial in
countering this influence! The world today, has a course or a path that it
follows. (Eph 2:2) Before we came to
Christ, we were all caught up in this course or as I like to use the analogy, of the ‘current of a river’. If you sit in a boat and do nothing, this
current will move you. Our inaction to make the right choices and decisions
will cause us to be moved in the direction that the world is going. That is why
the Bible gives us a negative command to...
Rom 12:2 “...be not conformed to this world:
....”
Let's make some right choices
and decisions by relying on the gauge of the Word of God!
2.
The
Spirit of God
This is the second gauge that
God has given to us in our personal instrument panel. In the thirty eight years
that I have been saved, I have seen the Holy Spirit blamed for many un-biblical
decisions and choices! We must always remember, the Spirit of the Living God never contradicts the Word of
God and He never leads
contrary to the Word of God!
Jn 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in
you.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to
come.
As you can see, the third person
of the trinity is called the “Spirit of
truth”. He always works in accordance with the Scriptures!
In John 16:8, the Bible also
tells us that he will also “reprove the
world of sin”. In our decision making process, a believer has to ignore the
instrument panel gauge of the Word of God and the Spirit of God when making a
wrong decision! Unfortunately, many of God’s people ignore the Instrument panel
gauge of the Spirit of God...and many have...
- GRIEVED the Spirit of God – involving sins of commission
- QUENCHED the Spirit of God – involving sins of omission
...let’s not ignore the
instrument panel gauge of the Spirit of God
3.
The
Man of God
This is the third gauge that is
important in the life of every believer. We live in a day of rebellion and
disrespect to authority. Many don’t want anyone to tell them what to do. God
has ordained authority in the...
- Home
- Government
- Workplace
- School
- Church
God has set the roles in each of
these arenas. No one has a right to change God’s order or the role that God has
set in each relationship. (1Cor 11:3)
No one has absolute authority except for God. All authority comes from God. (Rom 13:1-6) When authority becomes
corrupt and demands obedience contrary to the scriptures, then we “...ought to obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29) In most instances, this is
the exception and not the rule!
There are times when a pastor
sins and can become disqualified for the ministry. (1Tim 3:1-7;Titus 1:6-9) As with flights, there are thousands of
successful one's each day. We never hear about them, we only hear about the
ones that crash! Don't forget, for every one that falls, there are thousands
that are still faithful to the Lord! Elijah was reminded by the Lord that he was
not the only one serving Him... there were “...seven thousand in Israel, all
the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed
him.” (1Kg 19:18)
When there is a failure in leadership,
we must be careful with the decisions we make. I have see people discard God
and the Bible, and use the sin of a pastor as an excuse for them to waste their
own life in the “far country”. (Lk
15:13) How sad, to see this take place! We must never forget that... “So
then every one of us shall give account of himself
to God.” (Rom 14:12)
In the church, God has
established authority and order. If you have a Godly pastor, thank the Lord for
him! Thank the Lord for a pastor who cares and feeds the “flock of God”!
(1Pet 5:2) Sheep are prone to go astray and God has provided shepherds
to lead them according to the Word of God. We live in a day when people will
trust and listen to the advice of...
a. A
plumber, when they have a plumbing problem...
b. An
electrician, when they have an electrical problem...
c. An
auto mechanic, when they have a mechanical problem...
d. A
healthcare professional, when they have a health problem...
e. A
teacher, when their kids have an academic problem...
f. A
coach, when their kids have a problem on the team...
...but many fail to follow the
advice of their God given pastor when it comes to the problems and storms they
face in life! Let's take heed to the instrument panel gauge of the Man of God. And also, let’s
not ignore the Word of God and the Spirit of God!
4.
The
People of God
This third gauge is
underestimated by many believers. The Lord likened the church to His body and
every member is “necessary” (1Cor 12:22) It is imperative that every
believer identify himself with a local church. People today are replacing
church with...online preaching/teaching, DVD’s,
TV preachers and evangelists, etc. In addition to just being disobedient to the
Word of God (Heb 10:24,25), there
are problems that come with this alternative that have replaced the “face to face” (2Jn :12), two way interaction, with other believers and a pastor.
In choosing these alternatives, one can pick and choose what they watch and listen
to. They can turn it off if they don’t like it, and as mentioned, you can’t
interact with it! When one is faithful to the local church...he gets the ‘full meal deal’!
One of the problems with those
who choose to stay out of church and choose those alternatives is the issue of
accountability. Many do not want to make themselves accountable to anyone. Some
claim that they don’t answer to anyone but God! But, in reality, we all answer
to someone in addition to the Lord. Many, who remove themselves from other
believers, loosen up on their standards of personal holiness. The Bible teaches
us that we can learn from and help each other...
“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Prov
27:17)
Being around other believers
will help us to stay “sharp”
spiritually. It will also help us to learn to get along with others who are
different than us. It is of critical importance when making decisions and/or
going through a storm that we seek the counsel of Godly people.
“ Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of
counsellors there is safety.” (Pr ov
11:14)
Many have crashed spiritually
because they ignored the counsel of Godly believers or they never sought
any counsel.
When encountering storms and
problems in our life, it is of utmost importance that we keep a close watch on these
gauges; trust and obey them in order to stay in flight.
