“Prove All Things; Hold Fast That Which Is Good”

I want to connect two verses of scripture here from I Thessalonians 5:21 and James 1:17…

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (I Thes 5:21)…Every good and every perfect gift is from above and comes from the Father of Lights (James 1:17)

Here are my points from these two verses of scripture…

• Why are we so ready to disprove things without knowing and understanding the full facts? This is why there is so much error and confusion in the Church today. For example, there are so many arguements as to whether psychology is bad and whether Christians should have anything to do with it. Is it bad? My answer is an emphatic “NO!” Like everything else, it’s the abuse of it that’s the problem and I’ve noticed that the very people telling us not to use it, are often the same ones using it on us! At least for the little psychological knowledge I have, I can recognize when it’s being used on me!
• We misquote even the Bible at times (“It’s better to give than to receive;” “Money is the root of all evil” – go search your Bibles and tell me if you find either scripture) and yet we think we’re the authority on things we know little about. I was on holiday last year when I tried finding the first misquoted scripture. I was using three Bibles, two concordances and crosswalk.com and eventually I came across the proper version which says “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” I then dug deeper to find out what this verse of scripture meant. You know what it means? It means that you ‘SHOULD’ be in a better position (financially) to give (bless others) than to rely on handouts yourself.
• God said if it’s good think on it because it comes from me! God created everything that’s good and He tells us that if it’s true, just, honest, lovely and if there be any virtue or praise, “think on these things (Philippians 4:8). He doesn’t distinguish whether Christians or otherwise discovered it, he gave us the parameters by which we could put these things to the test and He also gave us the Holy Spirit, who will lead us into all truth. He (the Holy Spirit) has been the guiding light since the beginning of time and yet we often act as if we can survive without him. I’ve learnt that just by asking “is this right” He will lead me to the truth.
• I Thessalonians 5:21 wouldn’t suggest we should ‘Prove’ all things and ‘Hold Fast’ that which is good if there wasn’t some good in some of the things we often proclaim as being bad. Medicine today is abused, some of our food is chocked full of poison but do we refuse all medicines, all surgery and all foods on these grounds. No! Hopefully we at least attempt to make ‘Wise’ choices in these areas.
• Knowledge gives light to understanding. If you’re not prepared to pick up your Bible, read books to increase your knowledge and listen to other teachers apart from your pastor, what are you learning, and where is your knowledge coming from? Supernatural means just what it says… God adds His ‘super’ or greatness, or unlimitness to what you have in the natural. So don’t be expecting to walk into that test room having not picked up the text book all year and the Holy Spirit will just reveal everything in the book to you! Can God do this? Of course He can, he’s God. Will He do it? That’s your gamble not mine! 🙂 A true politician’s answer if ever I was given the opportunity of giving one!
• We can’t allow the hierachy of the old Roman Catholosism to seep into the Church. Whenever they read from the Vulgate (their bible), it was in Latin so that those at the top kept the knowledge and those at the bottom or in the pews, remained ignorant! God didn’t create a caste system, so why have we! Stop being like ducks who need feeding and go and find food!

In my next post, I’m going to elaborate on one of my previous post about knowledge. I saw this whilst on holiday this year and I was so awed by it, I had to go for a long walk to let it sink in.

God Bless You and Yours,