Monday, August 26, 2013

When all else fails...

August 26, 2013

Good Morning My Beloved ones,

            I pray that everywhere you look you see the evidence of God’s incredible love for you.

            Today I want to talk to you about “When all else Fails”.  Every smart phone, camera, computer, TV, electronic device or appliance that you can buy today comes with an instruction manual.  The inventor of whatever gadget you’ve purchased knows exactly how it was designed, what it will and will not do, under which conditions it functions and under which conditions it malfunctions and even lists things to do when it isn’t working the way you think, it should.  

He packed all his first-hand knowledge for this particular item into a little booklet that accompanies the purchase.  The problem is, most people are so excited to try out their new gadget that they toss the little booklet aside never to be seen again until the gadget malfunctions and when all else fails, they read the instructions.  Sound familiar?  You are not alone.

            I’ve heard people say, “I sure wish life (or parenting) came with an instruction manual?”  
Guess what?  They do.  It’s called the Bible.  Perhaps you’ve heard the acronym: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Most people think of the Bible as a big list of do’s and don’ts, and if you do all the “do’s” God smiles upon you and blesses you, and if you do all the “don’ts” God gets angry and punishes you.  I’d like to challenge you to look at the Bible differently – look at it as an instruction manual.

            The creator (inventor) of this world designed the world to benefit those who live there.  He created a world in which no one would be sick, no one would die, every living thing could live in harmony together with no danger, no fear, no need that His creation could not meet.  He put all the instructions for operating this world in His instruction manual – the Bible.  But from the beginning, man was more interested in figuring out the world himself and wanted to do things his way.  The instruction manual became lost, thrown away, or relegated to a dusty shelf.

            Today, many are realizing that their world isn’t working the way it should.  They’ve tried many remedies to fix it and nothing works.  When all else fails, it is time to read the instruction manual, my friends.

            The Bible has instruction for healthy diet, saving, spending, earning and lending money, relationships with relatives, friends, strangers, bosses and co-workers.  It has instructions for parenting, for running a church, for maintaining a relationship with God, even for a healthy sex life.  The Bible has instructions for dealing with every situation that can arise in this world.  When the instructions are followed, the world works the way it was designed to and blessing and harmony follow.  When the instructions are not followed, the world does not function as it was meant to and pain and disharmony follow.  The Bible is not a book of reward and punishment, rather one of cause and effect.

            The Bible is God’s gift to man – the gift of his
first-hand knowledge of the world He created.  It instructs us how to daily live in a way that is healthy and beneficial.  It teaches us how to live life as it was intended to be lived.

            We’d all be wise to dig out our instruction manuals, brush them off and become acquainted with these life-enhancing instructions.  When all else fails…the Bible doesn’t!

Learning to follow instructions, Raelynn



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